


Caged

by Phoenix_Falls, w00t4ewan



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Collaboration, F/F, Physical Abuse, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-04 12:36:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 37,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5334320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_Falls/pseuds/Phoenix_Falls, https://archiveofourown.org/users/w00t4ewan/pseuds/w00t4ewan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Emily finds out Will has become abusive she seeks to save JJ and Henry from thier abusive home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

JJ gripped the edge of the sink and took a deep breath, staring at the drain stopper and willing herself to have the courage to meet her own gaze in the mirror. Looking up, she breathed a sigh of relief, her collar covered the bruises

It was hot out but not so oppressively hot as was typical with the DC area summers that it would be seen as strange that she was wearing a high collar. No one could know. No one could find out her deepest shame. That was hard in a building full of profilers. It was hard when they were the best friends she’d ever had

JJ was a private person but it wouldn’t do well to be too private. She straightened her collar once more, resisting the urge to check the finger-length bruises around the base of her neck again and grabbed her keys, heading for the door.

“I’m leaving.” she called, passing Will who was sprawled out on the couch beer already in hand. It wasn’t even 10AM.

“Bye cherie, have a good day.” Will drawled out before taking a pull of his beer. His eyes were glassy and he was already halfway to drunk by the time JJ started her car and directed herself towards Quantico

The whole way there she fidgeted self consciously hoping that she’d be able to hide the bruises. She was confident she could, she did in the past, but every time there were new ones part of her flinched at the idea of anyone else finding out. Especially Garcia and Emily. They were her very best friends and it was hard to keep what was going on from their radars but luck had been on her side so far

She picked up her satchel and made for the elevators, meeting Emily on the way as was her habit

“Crap!” JJ exclaimed as the ping of the elevators proceeded the smooth slide of the elevators opening. She jammed the button for the sixth floor and offered Emily a sheepish smile. “I forgot the coffee. Sorry, Em.”

Emily smiled, “Well now you owe me two.” She didn’t mind, JJ had been forgetful lately and Emily had begun to notice. Just little things here and there. Emily suspected things at home were a bit rough but she dared not ask about them, from fear she would come off as too nosey or too concerned.

Truth was Emily cared about JJ a great deal. More than just friends, Emily had always loved JJ in some form or fashion but there was never a good time to bring it up. Never a good time to say, "Hey JJ I know you’re with Will but I’m actually in love with you and would enjoy if we gave this a chance.”

Emily watched as JJ readjusted the strap on her satchel, wincing slightly at the strap as it pressed on her clavicle. She rolled her eyes and thought, 'Must have been a late night to be sore today AND forget coffee'

“Are you alright? You seem…distracted.”

JJ smiled wanly “Yeah I’m great,”

The truth was, was she wanted Emily to ask, wanted anyone to ask how she was really doing but that was too much to hope for. She went out of her way to hide it and despite being eyeballs deep in top profilers, there was no way any of them would know.

She had to keep playing this off. Her life depended on it.

“Why do you ask?” she said, hoping to catch some slip she’d made at the source and cut it off for good.

Emily shrugged and looked down at JJ’s feet with a nod, “You wore your jogging sneakers to work…with a skirt and suit jacket. I mean I’m all for comfort in the office but that seems like a bit much, even for you.”

“Your hair is pulled back which means you woke up late, minimal make up, a stain on your blouse, probably oatmeal from Henry’s breakfast that you didn’t have time to clean or didn’t notice.”

“You just look a bit disheveled. It’s not like you. I’m just worried about you. You have seemed to have more and more of these ‘off’ days lately. Is there something going on I should know about?” The elevator door opened and they stepped off on the sixth floor.

“Oh my god! Are you pregnant again?” Emily’s eyes widened at her sudden conclusion.

“Is who pregnant?” Garcia chimed in as she met them at the elevator.

Emily saw the sheer terror in JJ’s eyes and played it off, “Oh, I think a friend of mine may be pregnant and I was asking JJ for old baby clothes.”

Garcia shrugged and made her way to her lair. Emily stood in front of JJ, looking her eye to eye, “You can tell me, you know.”

“Oh God no,” JJ breathed. Thank god she wasn’t pregnant again, she couldn’t handle that. “No, no, it’s just a lot to deal with with a stay-at-home partner and a kid already in the mix, you know?”

JJ fidgeted with her satchel strap, adjusting it around her bruise. “It’s not a big deal or anything, it can just be tough sometimes is all.” She said wincing when she thumbed the bruise around the base of her neck.

Emily eyed the way JJ kept adjusting her collar and satchel strap… hickey. It had to be a fucking hickey! Emily laughed, little miss innocent JJ was getting her freak on with that back water hillbilly. Emily shrugged, it was more than she could say about her sex life.

She waited until JJ’s head was turned the other direction while they were walking and she made her move. She pulled down JJ’s collar expecting to find a few love bites. But what she saw stopped her in her tracks.

“…JJ? What is this?”

“It’s not anything, Emily!” JJ hissed, pulling her collar back up around her neck. “God, it’s like you’ve never seen a hickey before.”

JJ knew that the marks were longer and deeper than a hickey would be but Emily had only pulled down part of her collar and she was hopeful that it wasn’t enough to give her away but registering the look in her friends’ eyes she couldn’t be sure. She held her breath.

Emily glared at the mark on JJ’s neck. It was a different shape than a hickey and darker too, it nearly looked like…no. It couldn’t be. Her mind was playing tricks on her. She had always been looking for the worst in Will and if he ever laid a hand on JJ Emily would be the first one to take retaliative action.

If JJ said it was a hickey, if JJ said it was nothing…Emily would have to believe her…for now. Emily knew she would be more vigilant now that she had suspicions, even if they were paranoid suspicions. She only wanted JJ to be safe. She would do anything to make sure JJ was safe and well cared for.

“If you don’t want to talk about it,” Emily sighed (knowing she would lose an argument at that point), “Then just know I’m here for you when you do. I’m always here for you JJ. No matter what is going on. I need you to know that I’m on your side. “

“It’s fine, Em, really.” JJ reiterated, her tone weary. She wanted so badly for someone to call her on her bluff and here Emily was, doing just that and she couldn’t handle it, she wasn’t ready.

What would they think of her? What would Emily think of her? She had a child for Christ sake. JJ gave Emily a tight smile.

“Thank you.” She said sincerely reaching out and squeezing her friend’s forearm, knowing Emily wouldn’t know exactly what she was really thanking her for. She was okay with that. For now. She just wanted to work and put last night and this morning out of her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

The day had dragged on slowly, as they usually did when there wasn’t a case. Emily had spent the better part of eight hours catching up on back logged paper work and she was exhausted.

Her mind had been stuck on the conversation in the elevator that morning with JJ. She was worried. But it was just her being paranoid, right? She tried to convince herself that if JJ said it was nothing, then it was, in fact, nothing to worry about. And yet, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The boys had started to pack up to go home and Derek had invited Emily out for drinks but she had her eye on the blonde who had been too quite all day. JJ had been locked away in her office all day and Emily had sworn she saw her crying before she had shut the blinds to her windows.

“No thanks, Derek, I’ve got plans,” Emily lied. Derek, Reid and Garcia said goodbye and made their way to the elevator. Emily made her way to JJ’s office.

She knocked gently before opening the door. She found JJ with her head in her hands, swollen eyes, and tear stained cheeks.

“Hey Jayje, I was wondering…you looked like you could use a drink. And I have this really great bottle of wine at home I’d love to share with you. Will you come over and keep me company for a while?”

JJ sat up straight and tried to look like she hadn’t been crying. She knew that was pointless because she could feel that her eyes were puffy but she gave Emily a sincere if watery smile anyways, knowing that she’d let her keep her façade for now

She wanted nothing more than to not go home. With JJ’s mother going to pick Henry up for the weekend, it would just be her and Will at home and so often Henry became the buffer between them. He’d never lose it in front of Henry but with him gone, there was no telling what Will would do. 

She’d been dreading going home all day and had planned to tell him she was going to work late and stay long enough going though the never ending piles of cases she had on her desk that if she was lucky, Will would be asleep or close to it when she did get home. He didn’t often get physical but when he did he was sickeningly sweet for the next few days and it made JJ feel gross and used. She didn’t want to put up with him and his platitudes tonight

“That sounds great, actually.” She informed Emily with a small smile. She couldn’t tell Emily that she needed her to leave so she could call and ask Will if it was okay for her to go to Emily’s and have the chance to apply some concealer to her bruises just in case

She hated feeling so powerless but it’s not like she didn’t fight back and it wasn’t like the physical aspect happened all the time. Who would believe her anyway? Everyone loved Will. Everyone but Emily who’d never seemed to warm up to him despite the fact that she had been the one that encouraged her to go for Will in the first place

“Let me just finish up some things here and I’ll meet you back at your place.”

Emily had half the mind to make JJ ride with her but that would mean she’d have to spend the night and Emily didn’t want to be too presumptuous. She knew JJ was hiding something but she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. Whatever it was had obviously been working away at JJ and Emily wanted to be her confidant, if she so chose to talk about it.

Either way JJ looked like she could use a good girl’s night and Emily needed a few glasses of wine after such a stressful day. She agreed to meet JJ at her place and made her leave.

Thirty minutes later she had made it home, placed her gun and badge in the safe, fed Sergio and opened the bottle of Cabernet. She poured two large glasses and made her way to the living room where she turned on her favourite Delta Rae album and awaited JJ’s arrival.

She had almost decided JJ had stood her up when there was a gentle knock on her door. She opened the door to find JJ, looking rather nervous, like she had something on her mind she couldn’t yet discuss.

“Have a glass of wine and unwind, you look like you could use it.”

“You have no idea.” JJ sighed gratefully, gingerly grabbing one of the glasses of wine and sinking onto the plush couch. She took a healthy gulp and tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

She wanted nothing more than to get out of her work clothes and be comfortable but she’d left her go bag at the office and didn’t have anything that would cover the base of her neck anyway.

“Thanks for this, Em.” JJ said, leaning back into the couch cushions. “I really needed someplace to unwind tonight”

Which was true. She went out with the team once in a while and with Emily and Garcia every so often but Will didn’t like her hanging out with just Emily. She figured it was because he could tell Emily didn’t think much of him and he was worried she was going to “poison” her against him (as if he weren’t doing a good enough job of that on his own) and he’d implied as much during one of their many arguments on top of the idea he had it in his head that just because Emily was interested in women meant she was interested in JJ, but JJ thought he was just being irrational and unreasonable.

The only reason she hadn’t had to fight to come over tonight was because he was still being sickeningly sweet and understanding since the altercation the night before. She just wanted to relax with one of her best friends and forget that she was trapped in a relationship and drowning in her own shame on her better days.

“And besides, I miss hanging out with you lately.”

“I miss you too, Jay,” Emily smiled as she took a swig at her glass. She watched as JJ sat stiffly in her work clothes, looking almost afraid to move too much. Almost as if she was wincing.

“Kick off your shoes, stay a while,” Emily insisted. She knew Will probably had been hesitant to let JJ out of his sight for the night, especially with _that lesbian_. Of course Emily had feelings for the blonde but she also respected boundaries and knew JJ was with Will and they had Henry and they were a family. Emily would never come between that. She wasn’t a home wrecker.

She watched as JJ kicked off her shoes but still looked like she was acting too proper to be hanging out with a girlfriend on a couch alone. Emily rolled her eyes, “Go in the bedroom and change into something less constricting. There are sweat pants in the bottom drawer of the dresser.” Emily motioned at the pajamas she was already wearing, “You’re making me feel under dressed.”

“I’ll grab you a shirt from the laundry,” she watched as JJ looked, what was the word? Nearly frightened at the idea. “We’ve shared clothes a hundred times. Just go put on something comfortable so we can both relax. I insist.”

JJ nodded solemnly, knowing that anything she did now, the truth was going to come out. She couldn’t just leave because Emily would know something was up right away. She couldn’t insist on staying in her work clothes either for the same reason.

As she made her way upstairs to Emily’s room she felt like it was getting harder to breathe with each step. Part of her was almost giddy with the idea of having someone know what had been going on, of being able to explain how things were at home but that was overshadowed by her own guilt and shame.

Was Emily going to pity her? See her as some damaged broken thing? God, she could handle that from just about anyone who wasn’t Emily. She pulled a pair of sweats from Emily’s drawer and slipped out of her skirt before pulling them on. The comfortable fabric against her skin did little to ease the rising panic she was feeling and she managed to unbutton her shirt before the anxiety turned into a full blown panic attack and she sunk to the edge of Emily’s bed, leaning forward and trying to take deep breaths but it felt like her lungs were useless.

She didn’t even register Emily come into the room, t-shirt in hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Emily had rummaged through the clean clothes in the dryer until she found one of her favourite over sized sleep shirts. It was lose fitting on her which meant it would hang easily around JJ’s small frame. Whatever was going on, Emily had gathered JJ had been in some sort of pain today. Maybe sex last night with Will got her sore or maybe something else. Emily tried not to think about it.

She padded quietly upstairs to her bedroom and opened the door. She found JJ sitting on the of the bed staring at herself in Emily’s full length mirror. That's when Emily saw it.

JJ’s torso was covered in an assortment of colours. From yellow to green to purple to black. Her ribs, her biceps, the obvious hand marks around her neck. Emily’s stomach dropped. She felt tears running down her cheeks and she had to step back out of the room before JJ noticed her.

She sunk to the floor in the hallway and sobbed silently. She couldn’t have ever imagined it was this bad. How could she not have known? She was supposed to be JJ’s best friend and she only had sneaking suspicious here and the, but this? Never this.

Emily regained her composure, JJ would need her to be strong, and entered the room. She cleared her throat as to not startle the woman who looked so lost staring at her own reflection.

“I brought you a shirt.”

JJ turned at the sound of Emily’s voice, her panic attack having been subsiding a little but she felt a renewed sense of anxiety when she realized she was standing there shirtless. God, what she must look like…

She took the shirt Emily held out to her and gingerly put it on, her face flushed with embarrassment.

She managed to stutter out “I can explain” before the dam burst and she was heaving loud sobs, collapsing into Emily’s arms.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” she hiccuped like a broken mantra.

“I can explain, I’m so sorry”

Emily sat down and wrapped her arms tightly around the blonde. She kissed JJ’s forehead and whispered reassurances. “You have nothing to apologize for, Jennifer.”

“Whatever this is, it’s not your fault. You don’t need to explain to me anymore than you’d like to. I’m here when you’re ready. But for now, I’m just going to sit here in silence and hold you and let you cry. You deserve to cry. Let me sit here and protect you so you can let it out, safely.”

Emily tightened her grip and placed a chaste kiss on JJ’s bare shoulder. It was one of the few unmarred places of her upper body. Emily choked back her own tears, she needed to be strong right now, she could cry later.

It was like having the permission to cry was all she needed and JJ let go, sobbing forcefully into Emily’s shoulder. The feel of her arms around her really did make her feel safe and safe is what she hadn’t felt in a while so JJ let herself cry.

She cried for hopelessness she felt, cried for the whole situation she’d gotten into, cried with relief that finally someone knew, cried for what that was going to mean for her now and as her tears subsided some she knew she had to make something abundantly clear.

“H-he never hurt Henry.” she stated, pulling back so she could look at Emily properly, her voice watery. “He’s a great father, it’s just…with my job and everything I make him so angry sometimes and he just” she sniffed humourlessly she was making excuses for him.

JJ shook her head, one hand gripping Emily’s arm. “I don’t know how it got like this, Em. We…we argued all the time and he would get passionate is what he calls it but it wasn’t anything serious until several months ago when he smacked me. I was so shocked I didn’t even react right away and he was so apologetic afterwards, you should have heard him he sounded so sincere and he promised it wouldn’t happen again. I actually had to be the one comforting him he was so broken up about it."

"But then it did happen again. Worse than the first time. I hit him back and that just made him angrier and I realized after the third time that he’d been grooming me for this. All the manipulation he’s done to me, he was just waiting for this and I feel so stuck. He’s so good to Henry and I can’t take my child’s daddy away, Emily, I can’t. But last night was the worst of it. I’ll be okay but honestly how could I have let myself get in this situation?"

"I feel crazy. He’s made me feel crazy about everything and I’m even questioning who I am and I don’t know what to do. I couldn’t stand it if you thought less of me or pitied me” JJ sniffed again. “Please don’t hate me, Emily. Please, I couldn’t take it. I’m sorry I let this happen. I’m sorry you saw, just please please don’t hate me.”

Emily couldn’t help it, the tears started flowing down her cheeks. Of course she didn’t blame JJ, not in the least. This was all on Will. Emily had seen warning signs in the past but had turned the other cheek because JJ seemed so happy and he was, in fact, a great father. But this? Her blood boiled. She was seeing red, she knew it did no good for either of them for her to lose her temper right now. The most important thing was to protect JJ.

“It’s going to be okay now JJ. I’m glad you told me and I’m glad you’re here tonight. I don’t hate you, I love you. I love you so deeply and I want to protect you from this ever happening again. It’s not my place to tell you what to do with your relationship but it is my place as your friend to tell you that you need to get out of there. You say he’s never hurt Henry but what happens if you’re not around? What then? I know neither of us could handle it if he ever laid a hand on Henry.”

“You know I have a spare bedroom and you and Henry are more than welcome to come stay here for a while until you figure out what to do. I want to know that you’re safe. Let me protect you, let me help?”

“You’ve been so brave going at this alone but now it’s time for you to have someone in your corner. I can be that person. Please, Jennifer, please let me help you.”

Emily leaned in and pressed her lips to JJ’s, tasting the salt from both of their tears. “I love you JJ, say you’ll let me help.”

JJ sniffled and nodded slowly, not registering the look in Emily’s eyes that would have alerted her to the fact that that I love you was more than friendly and the kiss was more than platonic comfort. The truth was, she’d always thought that something would happen between them but when Emily gave her the little nudge to go toward Will she thought her feelings had been one sided and she certainly wasn’t in the position to consider them now.

What she needed now was support and Emily had so often been her rock even if she hadn’t realized it.

“If he ever hurt Henry, I’d kill him.” JJ promised solemnly.

She stiffened when her phone she’d left on Emily’s dresser buzzed with a text alert. She’d been there less than two hours and it had already gone off more than a dozen times. She knew what it was, it was Will checking in on her. He got paranoid when she was with Emily alone, a paranoia that caused him to send texts under the pretense of missing her just to see how long it took her to respond back. She hadn’t answered any of them since she sent him a text alerting him to the fact that she’d be drinking and might not be home that night.

How could she drag Emily into this? How could she expect Emily to help her through this god-awful mess? But looking into Emily’s dark eyes that held no pity, only concern and love and a seriousness that told her Emily wasn’t going anywhere, JJ couldn’t help but reply “I really need help, Em. I can’t do this on my own but I’m scared of what’s going to happen.”

Emily was slightly saddened her declaration of love had gone unnoticed. But now was not the time. Someday she’d work up the courage (at the proper time and place) to tell JJ how she truly felt. For now there were more important things at hand.

Emily looked JJ straight in the eyes, “You’re not alone. I’m here now.” She helped JJ slowly lift her arms above her head so Emily could help her put on the t-shirt. “Hopefully that’s a bit more comfortable than that restricting blouse you wore today.”

“Now let’s go down stairs, refill these glasses and plan what you can do next so we can get you out of there. Judging by the amount of vibrations from your phone I estimate he’s text you at least ten times. Tell him you’re not coming home because I got you well and liquored. If he tries to protest don’t reply. He is no longer in control of you. You are your own woman and it’s about time he sees you as one.”

“And it’s not a lie, I have three other bottles of wine, a Netflix queue full of chick flicks, and a couch that is screaming our names. Tonight is about you and me. We’re going to figure this thing out, I promise.”

JJ nodded dumbly “But what if he comes here?” she asked, suddenly panicked. “Emily I can’t wrap you up in this, it’s too much. Henry and I will stay at a hotel and we’ll figure something out.”

She wrung her hands together. “We’ll figure something out. I have to. I can’t put you in the middle of this.”

Much as she wanted Emily’s help, she was resistant to getting her friend caught up in the whirlwind of drama that was sure to follow, plus, she couldn’t guarantee Emily’s safety. Will hadn’t lashed out at Henry, sure, but there was no telling how he would react to someone trying to take his kid and wife away.

“Can we just forget any of this ever happened? We’ll just have a nice night and I’ll go home tomorrow.”

“Jennifer, calm down. Now that I know, there is no way I’m letting this go. I can’t stand by and let this happen now that I know the severity of it. It’s not something I can sit ideally by and watch from afar. Jennifer, he could have killed you. If this isn’t the worst of it you can’t stay there. Henry can’t stay there.”

“You’re so brave for telling me and now I’m going to be brave for you and tell you that it’s time for change. I know you think you’re pulling me into this but that would imply I didn’t want to help.”

“I’ll have a second set of locks installed and we’ll start using the security system. We are both armed agents, there is nothing Will could attempt that we couldn’t handle together.”

“Just think about it. If you want to stay at a hotel my Mother can get you in anywhere in the city for little to no cost. Somewhere safe.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m pushing you into this, us. I understand if you don’t want to stay here…I mean it could get complicated,” Emily paused as she drained her second glass of wine, “Complicated between us.”

JJ touched Emily’s forearm lightly. “Complicated how, Em?” she dropped her hand. “If it’s not too much for you, I want us to stay here. I…I need us to stay here. Henry is at mom’s until Monday night so I’ll tell Will we can’t stay there anymore Sunday. Will…will you come with me to pick some things up?"

"I don’t have much and I swear I’ll take up as little space as possible but I don’t think I can do this on my own, Emily. God, what is wrong with me? I’m an armed and trained FBI agent and I can’t even do this on my own. I’m so sorry.” JJ covered her face with her hands, humiliated

Emily rubbed her thumb along the back of JJ’s hand, “Whatever you need. I’ll go with you, of course. I’d never send you over there alone.”

“You and Henry can have my room and I’ll sleep downstairs, give you two more room. You can stay here this weekend if you’d like. It’s really not a problem. “

“You can stop apologizing, this isn’t your fault. Thank you for letting me in enough to know what’s going on, now let me get you out of it.”

She paused and took both of JJ’s hands in hers, staring into sad blue eyes, “Jayje, whatever happens, whatever you need, I’m here for you. I always will be. You and Henry mean the world to me and I would never let anything else happen to you. I’m sorry it got this far. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you sooner.”

“Oh Em,” JJ breathed. “It’s not your fault, it’s not your responsibility.” she gazed into the depths of Emily’s dark brown eyes. She was so thankful she could kiss her. Whoa, hold on, not that. Calm down JJ. She’s your knight in shining armour but that doesn’t mean she’s your knight in shining armour. JJ shook her head to clear her thoughts

“I should have never let it get to this point. I’m not going to kick you out of your room though, Em. Henry and I will sleep in the guest room. He loves it when I lay with him, he’ll think it’s great and I don’t mind him kicking me so much. It just means he’s close.” she took Emily’s hands in hers. “I don’t know how to thank you”

Emily had watched the thought flash through JJ’s eyes. The same thought Emily had for years when she looked at JJ. Maybe, maybe, one day it would happen. But now there were more important things to attend to. Emily had to focus on JJ and Henry’s well being, she’d have time to fantasize later.

“If you’re keeping Henry safe, who will keep you safe?” Emily asked, wringing her hands as she spoke. “I’m just saying, I have a huge bed. The three of us could fit easily. I just mean, I wouldn’t want you to feel scared,” Emily shrugged, she shouldn’t have offered. It was too much and she didn’t want to scare JJ away. “Never mind… it was a dumb idea. But I still insist you take the master bedroom.”

“It’s not dumb.” JJ assured, maybe a little too quickly but it didn’t matter now, it was out there. “I just mean that Henry would be thrilled. He loves you.”

She smiled somewhat shyly. “As long as you don’t mind him kicking you in the night.”

Emily chuckled, “Jay, I’ve shared a bed with you and nothing can be worse than that. I’ll just be sure to add extra blankets and Sergio will have to sleep on the couch, since he doesn’t like you anyway.” Emily made her way to the kitchen to open another bottle, “Which I still swear is something you did to him!”

“In the meantime, you’re sleeping with me tonight. I’ve been through PTSD and I know how hard it is to sleep alone after something like that. I slept with Doyle for two years and yet once he had been captured I couldn’t sleep at all.”

She handed JJ a full glass, “Let me…take care of you.”

The last words came out with a purr, she hand’t meant anything by them but her heart was fluttering and the wine was getting the best of her.

JJ brushed her fingers against Emily’s as she took the glass. “I would love that.” she said chanting in her head that it didn’t mean what she thought it meant, that it couldn’t, that it was improbable and inopportune

“I didn’t do anything to Sergio!” she asserted after clearing her throat. “I don’t know what it is but I swear your cat hates me. I promise I’m usually good with animals but Sergio just…seems…jealous or something.” she took a gulp of wine and felt her shoulders relax. This was exactly what she needed.

“I have an idea. Maybe it’s crazy but I have a garden tub upstairs, candles, Epsom salt, an iPod dock. Let me draw you a bath. You need to soak your muscles to help with the bruising. You can take the rest of the bottle of wine and use all the hot water you want,” Emily smiled. “I think you deserve a night to pamper yourself before shit hits the fan this weekend.”

Without waiting for a response Emily had headed upstairs to the master bath and had begun to draw a bath. Her imagination was running wild but now was not the time. She couldn’t take advantage of a friend in need, it would just complicate things further. Right?

She didn’t hear JJ sneak up behind her and nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” JJ said sheepishly. She was standing close to Emily, probably too close. She was definitely invading her personal space.

“I just wanted to thank you again. For everything.” JJ rubbed her forearm with one hand and looked at the floor between them. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for what you’re doing.” she looked back up. “But just know that you can back out of this at any time. It’s going to get…” she sighed. “It’s going to be a fucking mess is what it’s going to be.”

JJ laughed self-depricatingly and watched the water in the tub fill up. She forcefully pushed the thought out of her mind that floated up and pointed out that that tub was big enough for two people. She looked back at Emily who was looking at her expectantly “I don’t know what I’d do without you Em.” And it was true, she had no idea what she’d do without Emily and she hoped she never had to find out.

“You didn’t startle me,” Emily lied. “You don’t need to thank me. I’d do anything for you. And I know this is going to be a fucking mess but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m on your side…” ‘Because I love you’ is what she wanted to say but she didn’t. “I don’t know what I would do without you either.” Instead she turned off the water, sprinkled in some bath salt and lit a couple of candles.

“The spa is yours, your majesty,” Emily said making an overly dramatic bow.

She started to walk out when she noticed JJ wincing trying to get out of her t-shirt.

“Would you like some help?”

JJ nodded diffidently. Last night had been really bad and she wasn’t use to this level of soreness. Every part of her ached. She felt like an invalid. Or a child. Her eyes started to well up with tears again.

“I’m sorry for being so weak.” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself as if she were cold. “I’m sorry for dumping this all on you. But I promise I’ll make it up to you.” I love you. It was there, on the tip of her tongue aching to come out but she swallowed the words and shook her head slightly.

Emily was just being nice. She was being a friend. She didn’t need more complicated than it was already going to get sprung on her. JJ had been sitting on her emotions for her friend for years now, always coming up with reasons why her feelings couldn’t possibly be reciprocated. After all, at the height of what had turned into serious flirtations, Emily had told her to go to Will.

No one like Emily would want her. Not knowing how weak and used she’d been being especially. Will treated her like shit and he barely wanted her when it was convenient as it was. She winced when her arm brushed a particularly nasty bruise on her side.

This was her life now. The battered wife. The soon to be single mom. She had almost broken Spence’s arm the other day when he caught her off guard and put a hand on her shoulder from behind her. Was she doomed to just be jumpy damaged goods for the rest of her life? She didn’t have anything to offer Emily and she refused to take advantage of their friendship. Especially not when she needed it more than ever.

“Can we not tell the team about this just yet? I…I’m not ready for them to find out. Not until Henry and I are safe.”

“Of course not, I wouldn’t tell a soul. This isn’t for me to tell. You can trust me, you know that.”

Emily began to help JJ out of her shirt, slowly. JJ winced with every movement. Emily’s hands trailed lightly along the edges of the bruises. How could anyone do this to another human being? How could anyone do this to JJ? She caught her hands lingering over the hem of JJ’s pants. She felt her hands tremble, JJ gave her a small nod.

Emily gently pulled the sweats down around JJ’s ankles and helped her step out of them. JJ was standing there, vulnerable, with all of her demons dancing in the candle light of the bathroom. Emily’s breath caught in her chest, even with marred skin, JJ was stunning.

She imagined kissing each bruise, each wound, taking her time, moving slowly across JJ’s torso and on to more sensitive…. Whoa. ‘Okay Emily, now is definitely not the time to fantasize.’

Emily came to stand eye to eye with JJ, she rested her hands gently on JJ’s waist. Inches between them. Emily took a deep breath.

“Jennifer…I need to tell you something,” Emily bit her lip and leaned forward, it was now or never. She just needed to say it out loud. “…umm, the water may be hot. So be careful.”

Emily pulled away suddenly and fled the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She pressed her back to the door and slid to the floor, knees to her chest, cursing under her breath.


	4. Chapter 4

JJ sighed when the door all but slammed behind Emily and gently eased herself down into the tub. She let out an involuntary hiss as the hot water gathered around her and she sighed loudly, leaning back against the basin.

It seemed like for a moment, Emily was going to kiss her….but no, that was stupid, that was idiotic, there was no way. She was projecting her feelings onto Emily because she was so relieved to have her help, that was it. She had to get herself in check. Especially if she was going to be moving in here with Henry.

God, what had she gotten herself into?

Leaving Will was going to be difficult and difficult was putting it mildly. No one believed that he could be such a cold hearted brute and that scared her almost more than the fact that he could. She shuddered to think about the people who were going to side with him. But Emily was on her side, at least. The whole world could crumble but as long as Emily was in her corner, she would remain standing.

She just had to stop projecting her feelings onto the brunette. She was in no position to get involved with anyone and Emily wouldn’t want her anyway. Not like this. JJ looked down at her bruised body and remembered every boot kick to her ribs and felt herself start to cry again

No, she wouldn’t cry anymore, she’d done enough of that. She wiped at her eyes furiously and leaned back in the tub, not even registering that she’d fallen asleep until Emily poked her head into the bathroom some time later, the water having gone cold

Emily had spent the next thirty minutes pacing back and forth in her bedroom going over things in her head. JJ was in a vulnerable state and Emily knew she couldn’t take advantage of the situation. But there she was, naked, in Emily’s bathtub. No, she had to stop thinking like that. She had to stop sexualizing the situation.

The first thing she needed to focus on was getting JJ and Henry out of that house to where Will couldn’t hurt them anymore. She had to put them first, above her own feelings, above anything else.

Lost in thought she found herself in the kitchen. She brewed a pot of coffee and poured a mug to take upstairs to JJ. How long had she been in the bath? How long had Emily been left to her own thoughts?

She tapped on the bathroom door but got no reply. She opened it slowly to make sure JJ was okay. The candles flickered shadows on the wall, the bubbles had long dissipated, the water was surely cold. And yet, there was JJ. Sleeping peacefully. Emily didn’t mean to stare but JJ was gorgeous. Her legs were bent to hide her intimates but her breasts perked just out of the water. Emily’s eyes lingered before JJ opened here eyes.

Emily jumped, spilling hot coffee all over herself. “Shit!” she set the mug on the counter and turned her back to JJ, covering her eyes with one of her hands.

“I’m sorry. You had been in here a while and I thought you might like some coffee…and fuck, Jay. I’m sorry. It’s not what it looks like!”

“I know, Em.” JJ said amusedly. “It’s okay, really. I um, I kinda do need help getting out of the tub though.”

She watched as Emily’s shoulders tensed slightly. “Never mind, I can probably manage.” JJ corrected. She didn’t want to make things awkward or make Emily do something she didn’t want to. Things were hard enough without expecting Emily to wait on her hand and foot. She’d done so much already and it’d only been less than a day.

JJ sucked in a pained breath as she attempted to rise up from the tub on her own.

“God, Jay. Stop trying to be the hero. Let me help you.” Emily stepped by the edge of the tub and grabbed JJ’s hand and placed her other on JJ’s back for leverage. She hoisted her up out of the tub to a standing position as JJ winced in pain. Emily held her hand firmly to help JJ step out of the tub and onto the rug.

Emily grabbed a towel from the cabinet and began to pat JJ dry. She was doing her best not to let her eyes linger at the perfectly sculpted body in front of her. Even battered, JJ was beautiful. Rage swelled in the pit of Emily’s stomach as she gently patted around the bruises, careful not to cause anymore pain.

She helped JJ wrap the towel around herself, they were standing so close Emily could feel the steam coming off JJ’s naked body. She could see the water dancing along her collarbone, dripping down her back and heading to curves unseen.

She leaned in, their lips met only for a moment before Emily pulled away. She watched the bewildered look on JJ’s face and Emily smiled, “I just wanted to clear that up.”

“I’ll let you get dressed.” And those were the last words spoken before Emily basically skipped out of the bathroom.

JJ watched Emily saunter out of the room with a bounce in her step and she stood staring dumbly at the back of the door with her fingers pressed to her lips. Did that just happen? Her lips still tingled and there was heat in her cheeks even from that all to brief kiss so it must have been real.

JJ moved as quickly as she could to pull on the t-shirt and sweats again, wincing when she raised her arms over her head. She probably should have gone to the hospital. She was fine as long as they didn’t get a case which would require her to move around a lot more and she really wasn’t ready to tell the team yet.

They’d figure out something was going on eventually but eventually didn’t have to be any time soon. JJ reached for the doorknob only to have her eye catch her wedding ring in the half light. She ran her thumb along the gold band with a frown and taking a deep breath, she took it off her finger.

The second it was off her finger, it felt like a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She knew that this was going to be a long road but she was taking the first steps now and she wasn’t alone.

She made her way downstairs to find Emily sitting on the couch. “Did you really just kiss me, or has my wishful thinking made me have a fever dream?” she asked with some levity as she sat down next to Emily.

Emily scooched over to make room on the couch and looked perplexed. “Well I don’t know what you were doing up there in my bathtub but I’ve been downstairs the whole time…”

She watched as JJ went beet red in horror, subconsciously touching her lips with her fingers.

“But if you want to find out if it was real, maybe you should come over here and see for yourself.”

JJ’s horror quickly abated and she smiled lazily, leaning forward “That wasn’t nice” she murmured. “but I’m going to kiss you anyway” and she closed the distance between them.

Emily’s eyes fluttered shut as all of time and space slipped away as their lips met. JJ pressed into her and Emily let the kiss linger. It was a simple exchange, nothing too passionate, mainly because Emily knew if she kissed JJ as fervently as she wanted she would make her injuries worse.

Emily pulled back with her hands on either side of JJ’s cheeks, she stared into those baby blue eyes which had held her captive for so many years.

“I have been waiting to do that for a long time now.”

JJ placed her hands over top of Emily’s and moved one hand to press a kiss to her palm. “Me too.” she breathed. “You have no idea. I thought…I thought when you encouraged me to go for Will that you didn’t feel anything between us. That all those times I was hitting on you and was serious about it, I just imagined you felt something too.”

Emily frowned, “What? When did you hit on me? I only pushed you towards Will because I thought you’d never go for someone like me…”

Emily got quiet, face turned serious, “And now look. God, Jay. If I hadn’t urged you to go after him…maybe you wouldn’t be in this nightmare. I’m sorry this is happening.”

She wrapped an arm around JJ and pulled her in gently, minding her sore muscles. She wrapped a blanket over their shoulders and sighed. “I’ve dreamed of this moment for so long but I hate what has lead up to it. I hate that you’re caught in this shit storm. I hate that I didn’t see it sooner.”

She took JJ’s chin in her hand and turned her face upwards so their eyes caught, “Jennifer, I swear to you I’ll get you out of this hell. And I swear to you that we can be happy.”

JJ placed a chaste kiss on Emily’s lips and nodded. “I know we can and please don’t torture yourself over encouraging me to go to Will. You didn’t know what he was really like. I didn’t either until it happened and then some other things started to click into place”

She put her head on Emily’s shoulder. “You really couldn’t tell I was hitting on you?” she laughed. “You’re so clueless” It was nice to just relax although JJ knew she would never fully relax until this mess was further behind her. She snuggled into Emily’s side and sighed

“He’s going to lose his mind when I tell him I’m leaving, Em.” she knew Emily already knew that but it was like a dark cloud looming on the very near horizon.

“I know he will,” Emily replied as she pulled JJ closer. She didn’t want to think about what Will was capable of, she had seen the damage he had done to JJ. And that was unprovoked. If she told him she was leaving, there would be hell to pay.

“I’ll be there with you,” Emily reminded. “You’re not going in alone. Whatever happens, we will handle. When you go upstairs to get you and Henry’s things, I will keep him in the living room so he can’t interfere. If you don’t get everything at once, we’ll come back when he’s at work. If it escalates beyond our control Derek will come with us. The most important thing is keeping you safe.”

Emily kissed JJ’s forehead, “I’d die before I let him touch you again.”

JJ nodded. “I believe you.” she entwined one of her hands with Emily’s. “It won’t come to that.” she said more to herself than to Emily. “I don’t want anything to happen to you either”

JJ yawned and squeezed the hand in hers before lifting her head off Emily’s shoulder and meeting her gaze seriously. “Look, I know you don’t say anything you don’t mean but this is going to get really ugly. Maybe even dangerous. Tell me at any time if you want to back out, if you can’t do this; I swear I’ll understand.”

“Jennifer, stop. I’m not going anywhere. We’re in this together, no matter how ugly it gets. I lo…” Emily paused. It probably wasn’t the right time for her to be declaring her love. It had been sitting on the edge of her tongue for months but JJ had been with Will, it wouldn’t be fair to either of them. But now? Emily ran her fingers over JJ’s hand and realized her ring was missing. This was actually happening, JJ was actually leaving Will. “I’m just saying, I’m not going to back out. I’m here for whatever support or back up or safe place you need.”

JJ smiled nervously, feeling self-conscious. “You say that now but just know that the option is there if you ever want it. I don’t…” she looked away, feeling sheepish. “Nevermind, it’s stupid. I’m being stupid.”

“Jay, you’re not stupid. You’re safe with me. Tell me what you wanted to say,” Emily urged as she trailed kisses along JJ’s fingers, up her hand and down her arm.

JJ took a deep, shaky breath. She knew she was being ridiculous but she hadn’t been lying when she’d said things with Will were making her question who she was.

“I don’t see what I could possibly offer you. I’m,” she looked down at her hands. “I’m damaged goods, Emily. And I don’t mean like he’s made me feel bad about myself although there’s that too I guess, but I’m jumpy and scared of the simplest things. You know I almost broke Spence’s arm the other day when he startled me in the break room? I’m damaged now. I don’t want to be and maybe I won’t always be but I am right now and there’s nothing I can do about it”

“Oh darling,” Emily’s heart broke. She couldn’t stand for JJ to think of herself that way. JJ meant the world to her and she knew JJ wasn’t damaged goods, she knew JJ was the strongest woman she had ever met. But she had to prove that to JJ and that would be a harder task.

“Do you trust me?” Emily whispered as she stood up and held out her hand.

JJ hesitated for only a second before taking Emily’s hand and allowing herself to be pulled up from the couch “With my life” she affirmed seriously

Emily smiled at that affirmation and lead JJ up the stairs to the bedroom where she pulled JJ in front of the full length mirror that stood in the hallway leading to the kitchen.

JJ began to protest as Emily’s hands wandered under the hem of her shirt and pulled it slowly over her head. Emily reminded, “With your life.”

JJ nodded. Emily stood staring at JJ’s topless body in the mirror. The menagerie of bruises made up different colors and had begun to change from yellow to purple.

“You say you’re damaged goods, that no one would want you…”

Emily stood behind JJ and placed her hands on JJs waist, pulling them together back to chest.

Emily leaned in and placed a kiss on the bruise on JJ’s neck. “But I don’t think your bruises make you damaged…”

Emily kissed the other side of her neck, “I think they tell your story…”

Emily sauntered in front of JJ and ran her hands gingerly over the boot imprints on her ribs, “I think they show how strong you are…”

She kissed JJ’s chest, “How beautiful you are…”

She lowered to her knees and kissed each bruise over JJ’s abdomen, “How brave you are…”

She got the them hem of JJ’s sweatpants and looked up with pleading eyes, “Let me show that you’re far from broken. Let me take care of you…”

Again JJ tried to protest and again Emily looked up at her and repeated, “You trust me with your life, now trust me with your body.”

JJ felt tears well up in her eyes and for once she didn’t feel like crying because something was wrong. She thought her body looked used and battered, totally ugly and she almost said as much but the look in Emily’s eyes stopped her. There was such longing and desire in them that it would be insulting to question it.

JJ didn’t trust herself to speak because ‘I love you’ was on the tip of her tongue and she didn’t trust her traitorous mouth to not give her away so soon so she did the only thing she could, she gave a short nod and put her hands over Emily’s, guiding them downward.

Emily got up from her position on the floor and took JJ by the hand, leading her to the bed. She sat JJ down and slowly pulled off her sweat pants.

Emily pulled her own shirt up and over her head to reveal her scarred torso. She rarely let anyone see her naked, she was too self conscious of the scars Ian Doyle had left on her body. The dark ragged scar on her abdomen where he had staked her, the clover branded into her breast by a soldering iron.

Emily kissed JJ fervently, “Jennifer, if at anytime any of this is too much, I want you to tell me. You say the word and I will stop.”

JJ reverently traced the outline of the scar on Emily’s abdomen, remembering how close they’d come, she’d come, to losing her for good. She felt overwhelmed in a lot of ways. Will had always made her feel like she was worthless, just a piece of ass for him to take when he liked unless he was being sickeningly sweet to her after one of his explosions.

Emily wasn’t like that though. Emily had already made JJ feel more beautiful than she had in years. Emily already was giving JJ the power to apply the breaks if she wanted. Emily loved her

JJ stalled her fingers, her breath catching in her throat at the realization. Emily loved her. She had to, and it wasn’t just wishful thinking on JJ’s part. She could feel it, she could see it in the dark eyes looking at her expectantly. “I don’t want you to stop.” JJ said, her voice choked as she looked at the gorgeous woman in front of her.

And so, Emily didn’t. She laid JJ back on the bed and kissed her gently on the lips, her hair brushed naked skin as she trailed lazy kisses over JJ’s abdomen all the way down to her belly button. She looked up into those piercing blue eyes to ask one last time for permission. JJ simply nodded.

Before she made her way between JJ’s thighs, Emily smiled. “Jennifer, I love you.”

JJ smiled beatifically and ran the fingers of one hand through Emily’s hair. “I love you too.” she watched a slow grin spread on Emily’s face and JJ bit her lower lip in anticipation. This was perfect, this is what she could have had the whole time but the past didn’t matter anymore only moving forward together mattered.

JJ whimpered when Emily started placing a series of kisses along her inner thigh, moving towards the apex of her legs. She tensed when she heard her phone go off again but shook her head when Emily looked up at her.

“Ignore it” she sighed, even as it went off again.

And again.

And then started ringing.

And then the pounding on Emily’s apartment door started.

JJ froze in terror, clutching at the blanket beneath her. “He’s here Em, oh god, what is he doing here?”

“Jennifer, darlin’” Will’s voice drawled loudly, barely carrying upstairs. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you, come open the door.”

JJ hadn’t noticed she started shaking until Emily smoothed her hands down her legs “What if something happened to Henry?” she asked, going to the worst case scenario. But that wasn’t the worst case scenario. Henry was with her mom. If something had happened to him, Sandy would have contacted her daughter directly.

“Nothing happened to Henry,” Emily reassured. “You stay here, I’ll deal with this.”

Emily slipped back into her pajamas, fury raging inside of her. It was well past midnight and Will was banging on her door and yelling like a banshee.

Emily made her way downstairs and turned on the entry way light.

“Will, what do you want?” Emily asked through the door.

“I wanna see my wife!” He demanded.

“Not going to happen,” Emily replied. “She’s already asleep. You have no right to be here. I’ll give you two minutes before I call the cops.”

Will banged louder, as if that would grant him passage. “Open this fucking door you dyke! I know my wife is in there! She’s mine, you hear? Mine!”

“I’m not opening this door for you, so you may as well leave. And JJ is not property to be claimed. You have one minute left.”

“You’ll regret this, chere! She’ll always come home to me. She knows what’s good for her,” Will threatened. Raising his voice so the whole building could hear he added, “HEAR ME, JENNIFER? YOU’LL COME BACK YOU SNIVELING PIECE OF SHIT!”

Emily watched through the peep hole as he stormed off down the hallway. She waited a few minutes to be sure he was actually gone before she let out a heavy sigh.

She went back to the bedroom but JJ was no where in sight. “Jayje?”

From behind the closet door she heard a small noise, she opened the door and found JJ huddled in the fetal position, sobbing.

JJ heard Will shout that she was his and to open the door and a wave of panic crashed into her. He was using the tone he did right before he’d beat her. She heard Emily’s angry voice respond and JJ quickly threw on her clothes, stumbling blindly for the first safe place she could think of which was the closet. She pulled the door shut behind her and sank to the ground, curling around herself as if looking for some kind of protection.

This couldn’t be happening. She jumped when she heard Will’s voice loud as ever that she would come back. It was perversely relieving to have someone else witness this side of Will, to know that she wasn’t going losing her mind.

But she wished it didn’t have to be Emily.

Oh god, Emily was down there alone and while some small part of JJ registered that Emily was a trained federal agent, a bigger part shouted that so was she and look what had happened. The only thing she could do is cry harder as the panic attack ripped through her and made it impossible to breathe let alone get up and go downstairs.

Her breathing was rapid and shallow and her chest ached and her whole body jerked as if expecting a blow when the closet door opened but there was Emily on the other side.

JJ couldn’t find her voice and when she did, she kept chanting “I’m sorry” like those were the only words she knew, she wasn’t able to hear whatever Emily was saying to her. She just knew that this was her fault and she needed to apologize enough to make it right.

Emily hated seeing JJ like that. Knowing that Will had conditioned her to think everything needed to be apologized for, it was disgusting. Emily sat on the floor next to the blonde and wrapped her arms around her.

“JJ there’s nothing to apologize for, it’s not your fault!” No matter how many times Emily repeated this statement JJ just kept repeating her mantra.

So Emily did the only thing she could think of, she sang:

_And I wanna love you, in the darkness_  
With the night rolling in like thunder  
Cause it’s too easy baby  
When you’ve spent so many nights alone  
To forget how you pull me under 

She rocked JJ back and forth as she hummed,

_Just think about how strong our love has grown_  
Think about how good the seeds are sewn,  
I will love you, my whole life long 

JJ looked up at her with teary eyes. “I mean it Jennifer, if you’ll have me, I’ll love you my whole life long. Let me be your rock, let me help you. Let me be strong when you can’t be. Let me fight by your side. Let me carry you when you’re too weak to walk. I’m yours now. I’m not going anywhere. Let me prove my love to you.”

JJ took a shuddering breath and sniffed, her breathing calming down the more Emily sang. She recognized the song and it would be remiss to say that she didn’t think of Emily whenever she heard it.

She was finally able to focus her gaze and she’d stopped mumbling the I’m sorrys just as Emily finished singing the chorus and JJ looked up at her, wanting to believe that the song choice meant something. But no, she was just imagining things again, wasn’t she? There’s no way Emily could stick around now that she’d seen what a mess this was going to be firsthand.

As if reading her thoughts, Emily spoke gently and lovingly to her, laying out her feelings. JJ didn’t have words to respond to such a declaration so she did the only thing she could think of and kissed Emily with everything she had. The day had been a mess, the past several months had been a mess, but right here and right now she was safe. Tonight it was just her and Emily and that’s all she wanted. That’s all she needed.


	5. Chapter 5

Emily woke up to a warm body snuggled up next to her. JJ’s head rested on her shoulder as she slept peacefully. Emily wasn’t sure how long it had been since JJ had a restful night’s sleep, so she dared not move to disturb the blonde. She simply watched as JJ drew long even breaths in and out. Emily kissed her forehead and smiled. She had dreamed of waking up next to JJ for as long as she could remember, it was bliss.

Emily replayed the events of the night before. After Will had left, Emily had calmed JJ down and taken her to bed to sleep. But after Emily’s declaration of love, JJ was in no mood to sleep. They threw caution to the wind and got lost in the throes of passion until nearly sunrise. It was no wonder JJ was still sleeping.

Emily knew that the day would be a wreck. They had planned on going to JJ’s house to get her things. JJ was going to tell Will she was leaving him and there was no telling how he would react. Emily debated whether or not to go armed but she knew that could be dangerous for everyone involved. She wasn’t 100% sure she’d be able to resist the urge to shoot the bastard for what he’d done to JJ.

There was a stirring next to her as baby blue eyes blinked slowly followed by a smile. Emily kissed JJ on the lips, “Good morning, my love. How did you sleep?”

JJ swam to consciousness slowly, her limbs blissfully heavy with sleep. It had been ages since she’d been allowed to sleep in. If it weren’t rushing around getting ready for work and getting Henry ready in the morning, Will expected breakfast to be made on days she didn’t have work in the morning.

The first thing she noticed outside how a delightful sort of soreness had settled into her body that overpowered the ache of her wounds was the gentle kiss pressed to her forehead. She let herself feign sleep for a little while longer, just reveling in not just sleeping in, but being wrapped up in the arms of someone who saw her and still loved her.

Emily loves me she let the thought carry her to consciousness and she blinked her eyes slowly open, smiling when Emily’s face came into focus. She gladly accepted the kiss placed on her lips, Emily’s voice indicating that she’d been awake for a little while already.

“Wonderfully.” JJ replied, her voice still graveled with the remnants of sleep. She stretched languidly and kissed Emily again, still enthralled with the fact that she could do such a thing now. JJ blinked against the soft daylight of the room and snuggled further into Emily’s side. She didn’t want to get up, she didn’t want to start the day. They were supposed to go to the house and pick up hers and Henry’s things and then she had to call her mother and let her know to bring Henry directly to Emily’s. She just wanted to stay in this bed in these arms for the foreseeable future.

“I don’t wanna get up.” JJ grumbled, her tone more wary than weary. She didn’t know if she was ready for today. She heaved a heavy sigh and tilted her head up to kiss Emily’s perfect jaw. “How did you sleep?”

“I actually slept,” Emily realized she had made it through the night without any of her usual nightmares. She actually felt relaxed, for now. It was something she wanted to relish in for as long as possible but unfortunately she knew they had to get their task over with eventually.

Eventually, she thought with a devilish grin. She leaned in and took JJ’s face in her hands and kissed her with everything she had. It had been real, the night before had actually happened and JJ actually loved her. It made her head swim. She was ecstatic even knowing there was a potential for the day to get dangerous.

“I was thinking,” she smiled at her partner as she bit her lower lip, “Maybe we could have breakfast in bed before we go?”

She slid her hand under the sheet and traced a finger down JJ’s abdomen.

JJ practically mewled in pleasure as Emily ran a finger down her abdomen and nodded her head. “I like the way you think, Agent Prentiss” she rolled over so she was on top of Emily and leaned her head down to kiss her languidly “I love you” she sighed into Emily’s lips.

“I love you too,” were the last audible words for the following forty five minutes. After they were good and satiated Emily rolled off the side of the bed with a stretch. “Okay, we have to get this done. We’re not doing anyone any favors by drawing it out any longer.”

JJ pouted as she rolled on her stomach, hands under her chin, feet kicking back and forth int he air. Her bare skin covered in a rainbow of bruises but, god did she look beautiful.

“We’ll get dressed, we’ll go to the house, we’ll get your things and be back here with Henry by tonight,” Emily planned. It seemed simple enough but she knew it was far more complicated. She hoped for the best but feared for the worst.

“JJ, we can do this. You and I together. We’ll get through this. Now get dressed so we can go.”

Emily took her own advice and picked out a few things from the closet before slipping into the bathroom and hopping into the shower. She couldn’t help but smile, even though she knew shit was about to hit the fan, she could finally be honest about her love for JJ and that made her feel invincible. No matter what happened with Will, she had won the girl, and she was satisfied with that.

JJ pouted at the back of the bathroom door and contemplated briefly on going to join Emily in the shower but with a sigh she knew she’d been right. They weren’t doing anyone any favours by drawing this out. Least of all themselves and she still had to call her mom.

Oh god, she had to call her mom.

JJ got dressed and went downstairs to make the phone call. She was going to call after she got her things from the house but who knew what kind of state she’d be in afterwards. She pulled up her mom’s phone number and it rang twice before her mother picked up.

“Hey Jenny.”

“Hey mom.” she started already feeling nerves crowding out the bliss she’d been feeling earlier.

“Is everything okay?” Sandy asked, concerned.

JJ cursed under her breath that her mom was always able to tell when something was going on but she couldn’t lie. “That’s a complicated answer that I can’t get into right now. But I just called to let you know to bring Henry over to Emily’s instead of taking him home tonight.”

“Sure thing, do you want me to stop by your house first?”

“No” JJ said almost before her mother had finished asking the question

“Jenny what’s going on?”

“I can’t talk about it right now.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Yes.” She sighed. “I promise I’ll tell you what’s going on just listen to me for right now and don’t go to the house.”

“Okay, do you want to talk to Henry?”

“Yeah, put him on.”

There were slight scuffling noises on the other end of the line before an excited squeal peeled over the connection. “Mommy!”

“Hey baby!” JJ responded, perking up now that she was talking to her son. “Are you being good for grandma?”

“Yep! We’re watching cartoons! Am I coming home today?”

“Yes baby, but we’re going to stay at Auntie Emily’s, okay Henry?”

“Why?”

JJ swallowed hard “I thought you liked when you got to sleep over Auntie Emily’s?”

“I do I do!”

“Okay well keep being good and I’ll see you tonight okay?”

“Okay.”

“I love you”

“I love you too mommy.”

There was silence as Henry handed the phone back to Sandy and JJ’s mother cleared her throat. “You’d tell me if something was going on, wouldn’t you Jenny?”

JJ cringed at the tone in her mother’s voice, it was cautious and a bit fearful. Had everyone known something was going on? Why didn’t anyone say anything to her? Why didn’t she say anything to anyone? “I will mom. I just…I can’t right now.”

“Okay, well, you know I love you no matter what, right?”

“I love you too mom. See you tonight.”

“Bye sweetie.”

JJ hung up the phone and felt a wave of nausea crash into her as her nerves began to overpower her again. She was really doing this. She had to do it. Emily was right, what would happen if Will lost it when she wasn’t around and he took out his aggressions on Henry? She couldn’t risk it and even if he never hurt Henry what kind of example was she setting for him? Just because Will was a great father didn’t make him a great husband. She felt sick. She looked up to see Emily coming down the stairs, the smile on her face falling as she took in JJ’s ill appearance.

“I called my mom and told her to bring Henry here tonight.” she explained before Emily had the chance to ask her what had happened. “She knows something is going on, but I didn’t explain anything. I will when she brings Henry over…are you ready to do this, Em?” JJ wrapped her arms around herself like it was cold despite the heat in the apartment and her eyes slid away from the concerned face in front of her.

“You can explain it all to her when she brings Henry over tonight, I’ll cook dinner,” Emily offered, hoping they would be in the mood to eat after whatever hell storm was awaiting them at the house.

Emily sat next to JJ and rubbed her back, “You’re so brave. You’re doing the right thing for both you and Henry. This will all be over soon.”

They walked hand in hand out to Emily’s car and kept their fingers intertwined as they drove. Emily rubbed small circles on the back of JJ’s hand with the pad of her thumb accompanied by intermittent soft squeezes of encouragement.

“We’re going to be fine,” Emily reminded as they pulled up in the drive way. “We go in, we get your things, and we get out. He’s going to be pissed, he may even be violent but the quicker we get in and out the better.”

Emily kissed JJ on the lips, looking her in the eyes, “I love you and I believe in you.”

They walked up the front path and took a deep breath before JJ put her key in the lock and opened the door to find Will waiting on the other side. It took one whiff of his breath to know he was already drunk.

“Will, we’re here for JJ’s things. There’s no need for a fight. Just let us get what we need and we’ll all be adults about this,” Emily said calmly.

“Fuck you,” Will cursed before turning to JJ with apologetic eyes. “Chere, you know I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean it. I love you. Come home and we can talk about this. It’s not going to happen again. I promise.”

JJ laid a placating hand on the small of Emily’s back when Emily stepped in front of her and she smiled thinly. “No, Will.” she said firmly, stepping around Emily. “You say that every time. You promise every time. I’m not going to take this anymore.”

“Darlin you know I’m just stressed a lot.” Will said, his eyes soft. “I didn’t mean to scare ya, I swear I didn’t mean it this time. I love you baby.”

JJ flinched at the endearment but breathed easier when Emily briefly squeezed her hand. “I’m going to get some things for me and Henry and we’re leaving. We’re done Will. Finished.”

Will grit his teeth and looked like he wanted to say something more but one look at the stern glare in Emily’s eyes made him think better of it and he took a step back to let JJ past him. JJ turned and gave Emily a warm smile, resisting the urge to kiss her and going upstairs leaving Will and Emily alone.

Once JJ was gone, Will steeled his posture and turned hard eyes onto Emily. “You think you can just waltz in and poison my Jenny against me, don’t you?” he spat. “What’s in it for you? What do you get out of breaking up our home? Are you trying to fuck my wife? Is that it?”

Emily clenched a fist at her side but she knew that if she lost her temper he’d press assault charges and he really wasn’t worth losing her job over. He really wasn’t worth much of anything.

“Will,” Emily said firmly, it was the only warning she was willing to give. They stood eye to eye, nearly nose to nose trying to intimidate the other but neither would back down. “I’m going to tell you this one time. JJ is coming with me, you will get your things together and be out of this house by the end of the week. You will never see her again, you will not contact her, you will never see Henry again. You will never bother either of them. Do you hear me?”

“You fucking dyke. What makes you think I’d do what you say?”

“Because I care about JJ and I will protect her at all costs and right now that means getting her away from you.”

“That’s what it is, isn’t it? You have a thing for her! You think Jenny would go within ten feet of you? Are you truly trying to fuck my wife?” Will laughed, as if it was the funniest thing he had ever said.

Emily grinned but said nothing.

“What are you smiling for bitch?” Will asked with a perplexed look.

Emily shrugged before she finally took a step back from him, eyes still glued to him in case he tried anything. Minutes passed as they stood in silence before JJ finally made her way downstairs.

“Did you get what you needed?” Emily asked JJ. JJ nodded and handed Emily a suitcase. “Then let’s get out of here.”

She protectively let JJ out the front door first before she turned back to Will and smiled, “What makes you think I haven’t already?”

“Haven’t what?” he asked.

“Fucked your wife,” Emily winked as she closed the front door behind them. “End of the week!” she called through the door.

JJ halted when she heard the inhuman scream coming from inside the house and then the sound of things breaking. “Emily, let’s get out of here.” JJ suggested, hurrying to Emily’s car.

Emily nodded her agreement and they threw the suitcase in the backseat before they got in, Emily peeling out of the driveway just as the front door to the house flew open and Will came screaming out into the driveway, jogging futilely down the driveway after the car.

“Jesus,” JJ breathed, twisting in her seat in time to see Will throw a sizable rock after them. “What did you say to him?”

Emily laughed, “Nothing he probably hasn’t masturbated to before.”

She watched JJ’s face go from confused to understanding then full on shock. Emily reached over and grabbed JJ’s hand and brought it to her lips, “I love you. I know I keep telling you that but it just feels so good to finally say it out loud.”

They were about to get on the highway when Emily spotted a car speeding up from behind in her rear view mirror, “Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me.” she groaned.

Sure enough it was Will in his pick up truck. He sped up to get right on Emily’s ass. She could see him yelling from her mirror.

“Yeah, we’re not going home,” she explained as she pointed to the mirror. “Hold on.”

She sped up to get around the car in front of her and took the next available exit and headed to the safest place she knew, Quantico. They were only ten minutes away and she was sure she could keep Will off her tail for that long with a few evasive maneuvers.

JJ held onto the garment handle above the door as they zipped through traffic and wove expertly around the cars in front of them. Will tried to give chase but he was in no condition to drive and when he recognized where they were going, he made the turn off of the highway and JJ could breathe a little bit easier.

“I can’t believe this.” JJ choked out, adrenaline coursing through her veins as they pulled into a space at Quantico. “What are we doing here?” she wondered as Emily cut the engine off. It made sense to head there while they were being chased but what were they getting out of the car for?

“Garcia is working overtime this weekend and we need to get your number changed,” Emily explained as they entered the building. JJ didn’t fully understand but she followed suit.

They got to the BAU and made their way to Garcia’s office.

“My beautiful pretties!” Garcia chimed, “What are you two doing here?”

“Pen, I need you to do something. I need you to trust me and not ask questions. Can you do that?” Emily asked.

Garcia frowned, “What happened?”

“No questions,” Emily reminded, “Just yes or no.”

“Yes, of course I can help, whatever you need,” Penelope replied.

“JJ hand me your phone,” Emily held out her hand, JJ handed her the phone. “Garcia, I need you to make this number disappear. She needs a new phone number. And Garcia, I need you to get new identities for JJ and Henry.”

JJ pulled Emily’s arm but Emily turned to her with a serious face, “Worst case scenario.”

Garcia took the phone and worked her hacker magic. Minutes later she handed it back, completely wiped and working with a new number.

Emily kissed Pen on the cheek, “You’re the best, PG.”

She grabbed JJ and rushed out without any other explanation. Garcia frowned, she was worried but she knew that JJ was in good hands with Emily. If Emily said they needed new identities for whatever was happening, then Garcia would make it happen.

Emily and JJ made their way back to the car. “Now he can’t use the department resources to track you down,” Emily finally explained as she opened JJ’s door for her. She shut it and got in the driver side, “This will all be over soon.”

One week, she thought.

JJ shuddered as she thought about what would have to happen to entail using another identity.

“Emily…” JJ started, but was unsure how to finish her thought or even what her thought was. She was in deeper than she originally thought. It was one thing to know that someone was hurting you and you needed to get away and another thing entirely to know that they might be the reason that you’d have to uproot your whole life and get a new one.

Not for the first time that day, JJ was scared. She was terrified honestly, but as long as Emily was there with her, everything would be okay. She knew it. She felt it. It had to be the case.

“Emily, do you think I’ll have to use the new identities?” she hesitated. If she had to use them, of course she would but where would Emily be? She could manage, if she had to, but having to go through this without Emily by her side seemed like a task more daunting than she wanted to tackle.

“I hope not,” Emily replied honestly. “But if you do, then I’ll be there to help.” Emily knew that JJ was worried and honestly, so was she. She hoped that JJ would never have to leave but she wanted to be ready in case things got worse.

“Let’s try not to think about that right now. Let’s just get home and wait for your mom and Henry. You’ll feel better once Henry is home with us.”

Us. It was the first time Emily had used the plural to describe them but it felt right. Also the idea of having a home, together, was more than she ever imagined.

She took JJ hand and lifted it to her lips, pressing a firm kiss to the back of it. “Jennifer, I promise this is going to be okay. I’m not going to leave you, no matter what. I’ve spent far too many years away from you. I can’t imagine life without you now that I’ve had you.”

The rest of the trip back to Emily’s apartment was spent mostly in silence, both of them lost in thought. Emily kept repeating in her head, it’s going to be okay.

The silence in the car on the way back to Emily’s was heavy yet comfortable. JJ was lost in thought the majority of the ride. Emily had said that she wasn’t going to leave her no matter what but she was expecting a lot out of…whatever it was they were doing. Were they dating? Friends with benefits?

JJ shook her head, Emily wasn’t like that. Emily wouldn’t ever treat her like some prize to be moulded into whatever shape she wanted. Emily wasn’t Will and she had to trust the brunette. And she did trust her but there was part of her that was skittish of everyone now. Part of her that couldn’t trust anyone and she supposed that was something she was just going to have to work through. What mattered right now was that they were together and were going to make sure that she and Henry were safe.

“Em,” JJ said as Emily placed the suitcase on her bed. “How am I supposed to tell my mom?” the blonde sank down on the edge of the bed and wrapped her arms around Emily’s waist, leaning her head into the taller woman’s stomach. “She’s going to be furious.”

Emily allowed JJ to pull her close, she pressed a kiss to JJ’s forehead. “You tell her the truth. Show her your bruises. Tell her what he’s done to you. She’ll be proud of you, she’ll understand,” Emily placed her hand under JJ’s chin and lifted her face so she could look JJ in the eyes, “I love you. You are so brave. And I am so proud of you.”

She leaned down and kissed JJ passionately. “But just in case, we should lock up the guns…because I know Sandy and I know she’ll want Will’s head on a platter.” Emily joked.

“When this is over, after Henry is here and safe, after dinner, tonight before we go to bed…I think we should talk about us. I know things have been crazy in the past 24 hours but I want to talk about what all this means for us too.”

There was a knock on the door and JJ jumped out of habit. “It’s alright, it’s just Sandy with Henry. I’ll go let them in.”


	6. Chapter 6

Emily made her way to the front door, checking the peep hole to verify it wasn’t Will again. She smiled, relieved, and let Sandy in. Henry came running in behind her and jumped into Emily’s arms. She kissed him all over and smiled as he lost his composure and broke down to a mix of shrieks and laughter.

“Hey Sandy, JJ will be right down.”

“Gramma, get the picture I made!” Henry demanded brightly after Emily set him down. “I made you a picture Auntie Em!”

Sandy smiled and fished around in Henry’s small backpack before producing a rolled up piece of construction paper and handing it to the five year old who promptly snatched it with a loud ‘thank you’ and holding it out to Emily. “It’s you and me and mama and a dragon!” Henry exclaimed excitedly. “You can put it on your fridge!” with that, Henry tore off into the apartment with a piece of string pulled from the hem of his shorts on the hunt for Sergio

Sandy smiled at Emily and handed over Henry’s backpack when Emily held out her hand. “How’s JJ doing?” she asked. She knew something was terribly wrong and she’d braced herself for what it could possibly be, but she took comfort in knowing that Emily was there for her. Emily had always been so supportive and caring towards her daughter and it made her feel good that JJ had someone like Emily to rely on when things got tough

Emily smiled at the drawing, they looked like a family. She couldn’t want for it to be the first (of many, she hoped) Henry original on her fridge.

She sighed and looked at Sandy seriously, “Not well but she’s putting on a brave face. I think she’ll be a bit less stressed now that you and Henry are here.”

Sandy was obviously distraught wondering what could possibly be going on with her daughter. Emily wanted to reassure her but she knew it was JJ’s story to tell. JJ came down the stairs with tear stained cheeks, Emily’s heart broke knowing JJ was hurting. She wanted to be able to take her pain away.

“Jayje, do you two want to talk alone? I can keep Henry company, I’m sure he’s found Serg by now.”

“No,” JJ said, shaking her head. “Please, I want you to stay with me.”

Emily nodded and the three of them sat at the bar countertop of Emily’s kitchen, Sandy on one side and Emily and JJ on the other next to each other.

“So what’s going on, sweetie?” Sandy asked with concern, her voice low.

JJ took several deep breaths before looking over at Emily and finding some measure of courage there she began to explain.

“I have to get this all out at once so just let me talk,” she started, looking at her mother who nodded for her to continue. “I know you know Will and I fight a lot, god knows I’ve called you about it enough times but about two months ago, things started to get…physical.” she watched her mother tense up. “I know you didn’t raise me to be a victim mom, and I’m so sorry, but I felt like I was trapped and didn’t have a way out. The other night, Will beat me worse than he ever had and Emily found out about it.” here she looked over at Emily and smiled. “With Emily’s help, I’ve decided to leave Will. Get a divorce, get away from him. Henry and I are moving in here while we figure things out which is why I didn’t want you to bring him to the house just yet. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about any of this sooner”

“Oh Jennifer, baby,” Sandy choked out, tears in her eyes. “You don’t have anything to apologize for, you hear me? Nothing. Did, did he leave a mark on you?”

JJ winced at the remembrance of the beating she took and nodded, standing up and lifting her shirt up partway so Sandy could see the rainbow of bruises all over her torso. She felt her eyes well up again when Sandy looked at her daughter in horror, anger flashing in her eyes.

“I’ll kill him myself.” Sandy promised

JJ shakily sat down and shook her head while rolling her shirt back into place. “He’s not worth it, mom.” she looked over at Emily and addressed her more then her mother. “I’m going to be fine.” JJ smiled as Emily slipped her hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Emily resisted the urge to kiss JJ on the cheek. Sandy watched the exchange of hand holding and the gaze the two women gave each other and smiled lovingly.

“And it’s safe to assume, I think, that Emily is taking care of you?”

“I’m doing my damnedest,” Emily replied as she brushed JJ’s hand with her thumb.

“I’m glad you two have finally decided to stop dancing around the truth,” Sandy grinned.

“Excuse me?” Emily asked as she dropped JJ’s hand quickly.

“Well it didn’t take an idiot to pick up on the chemistry of you two. I’ve always been a fan of yours, Emily. You have always been caring and loyal to Jenny and for that I am so grateful. Grateful she has someone like you in her life. Henry just loves you too, he went on and on about getting to come to Aunt Em’s. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other and that little hand hold all but confirmed what I’ve suspected for a long time. You two are together, yes?”

Emily and JJ must have shared the same stunned look because Sandy just laughed. “Oh come out with it already.”

“Yes,” Emily said as she took up JJ’s hand again. “We’re together.”

Well, Emily assumed so. They hadn’t actually had time to discuss what they were, they had planned on doing that later that night but here they were in front of Sandy who was demanding an answer. So Emily gave one, yes. They were officially together. She hoped that JJ agreed.

“Right, Jay?” Emily asked timidly.

“Right.” JJ confirmed without hesitation, the relieved smile on Emily’s face telling her that Emily wasn’t just saying so because they’d been caught. “We still have to talk to Henry, he doesn’t know anything about moving in here yet, but we figured it could wait until after dinner…” JJ trailed off.

Sandy nodded “That’s for the best. Do you want me to leave now or?”

“No, no, mom. Stay for dinner.” JJ insisted. “I’ll just go get Henry.” she gave Emily a kiss on the cheek and left to go find her son.

Sandy was about to make some teasing comment toward the exchange, but her phone’s text message alert pinging distracted her and she pulled out her cell, frowning at the screen. “It’s Will.” Sandy said, frown deepening. She turned her phone around and slid it across the countertop towards Emily so she could read the text:

“Hey mom, I’ll be coming by to pick Henry up so you don’t have to drive down. I’ll see you in a couple hours.”

Emily laughed out loud, “Is he that dumb? That he thinks we wouldn’t have already thought of Henry?”

Sandy nodded in agreement, “What should I tell him?”

“Tell him that Henry is with his mother, where he belongs. Tell him that he’s a total fucking ass hole who doesn’t deserve…”

Sandy’s eyes glanced over Emily’s shoulder and small feet came running into the kitchen. Emily stopped, hoping Henry hadn’t already heard her foul language.

“Tell him he doesn’t need to bother because JJ already picked him up.”

Sandy picked up her phone and text Will back. She then scooped up her grandson and gave him a raspberry on his tummy, “I love you Henry. And your Momma loves you, so very much.”

“And I love you too rugrat!” Emily exclaimed as she tousled the boy’s hair and kissed him on the cheek. “Do you want to help me make dinner?”

Henry nodded and Sandy let him down to follow Emily into the kitchen where she started rummaging through the fridge to decide what to cook.

Emily felt her phone vibrate and took it from her pocket to check the message. It was from Will.

“You already stole my slut of a wife your not stealing my boy to“

Emily rolled her eyes and shoved her phone back in her pocket without replying.

“Okay Henry! Let’s make spaghetti!”

Dinner was pleasant enough, as predicted by Emily while Henry was helping her stir the tomato sauce, Henry ended up wearing a good deal of his dinner in comparison to the amount that went into his mouth. Sandy bid her farewells leaving the three of them alone.

JJ bathed Henry and she was helping him into his dinosaur pyjamas when Emily came into the room and sat on the bed. JJ looked over at Emily and she nodded, knowing it was time to talk to Henry.

“Henry,” JJ started, pulling him up to sit snugly between herself and Emily. “You know how you like staying at Aunt Em’s?”

“Yes!” Henry crowed, dipping his head to the side so he could lean against Emily.

“How would you feel about staying here for a long time?”

Henry appeared to think about it for a minute but then nodded “Where’s daddy gonna sleep?”

JJ gnawed at her lower lip trying to figure out how much to tell a five year old. “Daddy wouldn’t come too, Henry.” she said seriously. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for daddy to come around at all.”

Henry frowned. “Are you mad at him?”

“Yes, baby. He did some very bad things and that makes me and Aunt Emily mad.”

Henry looked at between JJ and Emily with watery eyes before settling his gaze on his mother. “So he’s in trouble?”

“Yes, he’s in trouble.”

“And we’ll live with Auntie Em’ly?”

JJ nodded.

Henry stared hard at Emily before bursting out into tears. “I don’t wanna!”

This was not the reaction JJ was hoping for. “Why not, baby?” she asked, attempting to calm him down and getting rebuffed every time.

“I don’t wanna! I wanna go home!”

“Henry you are home right now.”

“No mommy!” Henry was in near hysterics now

“You’ve got to calm down and use your words.”

Henry flailed for a moment, sobbing hard before climbing in Emily’s lap and throwing his little arms as much around her as he could manage “Mommy I love Aunt Em’ly!”

JJ hadn’t been expecting that either. “So why don’t you want us to stay here with her?”

Henry sniffled, clinging to Emily’s arm and refusing to turn to look at his mother. “I don’t wanna stay here. I don’t want Em’ly to make you cry.”

“Baby, what are you talking about?” JJ put a comforting hand on Henry’s back and tried not to be hurt when he shrugged her off.

“Daddy’s in trouble because he makes you cry all the time, isn’t he?” Henry asked tearfully making JJ freeze. She had no idea Henry was aware something was going on between her and Will. “If we come here, Em’ly is gonna make you cry all the time and I don’t want that. I love you and Auntie Em mommy. I don’t want to stay.”

JJ looked over at Emily helplessly when Henry started to cry harder.

Emily wiped tears from her cheeks and picked Henry up in her lap. “Oh baby, I would never make your Mommy cry. If you stay here with me I promise you and your Mommy will be safe. I promise that we’ll all have a great time and I will be the absolute best for your Mommy. She makes me very happy and I love her very much.”

She kissed Henry on the forehead and wiped his cheeks, “Look buddy, if you don’t want to stay here that is up to you. But I really, really, hope you do want to. Because I would like that very much and I think, once you got used to it, you would like it too. We can make blanket forts and watch cartoons and eat cereal for dinner, if you want to!”

JJ shot a warning glare at that last promise. Emily smiled, “Henry, I pinky promise that I would never hurt your Mama. Do you trust me?”

Emily placed her pinky out and awaited a reply from the youngster.

Henry snuffled hard and regarded Emily’s pinky for a moment before turning red-rimmed eyes onto Emily, looking for any sign of foul play. Finding none there, he gripped her pinky with his and they kissed their own thumbs, sealing the promise

“Can we make a blanket fort now?” he asked, rubbing at his eyes

“Now it’s time for bed.” JJ said, pulling the blankets down from the guest bed. “We can make a blanket fort another day.”

Henry pouted but JJ wasn’t willing to give in, she gave her son a kiss on the forehead and Henry climbed out of Emily’s lap after giving her a sloppy kiss and climbed up to the head of the bed before snuggling down into the blankets. “Can I have Frank still?” he asked

JJ smiled and pulled the stuffed stegosaurus from the top of the suitcase, she’d been expecting that at least. “Of course, baby.” she tucked Henry and Frank into bed before giving him one last kiss and following Emily out of the room and into the hallway

“You wanted to talk?” JJ asked nervously, fidgeting

Emily smiled and laced her fingers in JJ’s and pulled her in for a kiss, “Yes I did. Why don’t we open a bottle of wine and relax?”

JJ agreed to this arrangement. Emily knew after the day they had they needed to take it easy and she was slightly nervous about how their conversation would go. She poured two glasses of wine and brought them to the couch where JJ was already snuggled up under a blanket. Emily sat down next to her smiled for a moment, just taking in the sight. JJ was truly the most beautiful woman Emily had ever seen.

“Well I wanted to talk about us. What ever this is. I mean in twenty four hours we went from zero to sixty. From co-workers, to lovers, to living together. It’s a bit quick,” Emily saw JJ’s face falter. “No, I’m not saying it’s not delightful. I just know that you are vulnerable right now and I want to protect you from jumping into something to soon. I’m more than willing to let you and Henry stay as long as you need but if at any point you wake up and have regrets, about us, I’ll understand. I just want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. If you need to take time and process this whole ordeal, then I get that….”

She wasn’t saying what she wanted to, she couldn’t seem to put her thoughts into the right words. “What I guess I’m saying is, there is still time to back out. If you want…”

JJ saw Emily floundering for words and before she tried to offer another unwieldy explanation, she pressed her lips to Emily’s, immediately deepening the kiss when their lips met.

“If you didn’t know,” JJ said breathlessly when they finally pulled apart. “That’s me saying that I’m not going to back out. I know everything is happening so fast, but honestly I’ve had these feelings for you for so long that it doesn’t feel fast at all. I can’t wait to get started on our life together. If it weren’t for you, I’d be home with Will right now.” she shuddered. “I love you Emily, I’ve loved you for years, this isn’t too fast. But what do we do now?”

Emily honestly didn’t know. She was so ecstatic to finally be with JJ she had never spent much time thinking about what happened after they got together.

“I guess we take it a step at a time. Once Will is gone, you could move back to the house. It will be best for Henry to be in a familiar place. All of his stuff is there, it’s his home. It’s hard enough for a five year old to understand divorce and separation but it’s not fair to completely uproot him unless completely necessary. I’m not rushing you, in any way, I just think the house is a better place for Henry.”

JJ bit her bottom lip and nodded sadly. “I’m sorry, Em. It didn’t occur to me that you might be the one who thinks we’re going too fast. We can move back into the house as soon as Will is out of it. I swear we’ll try our best not get in your way while we’re here.” she squeezed Emily’s hand and tried to put on a brave smile

Emily laughed out loud, much to JJ’s dismay. “JJ, you useless bisexual.”

Emily intertwined her hand in JJ’s hair and pulled her in, she kissed JJ with all she had. Making sure JJ knew how she truly felt, JJ was hesitant at first but finally relaxed into the kiss. Emily got lost in the heat of the moment and pushed JJ back on the couch, one hand still full of blonde hair. She used the leverage to pull JJ’s head to the side, she kissed her neck and nipped at JJ’s ear lobe. JJ moaned under Emily’s control.

Emily finally leaned in and whispered into JJ’s ear, “I’m coming with you. But first I want to have you coming…”

Emily pulled her shirt over her head and threw it on the ground. She reached down and unbuttoned JJ’s pants, clawing to get the zipper down all the while never letting their lips part. She slipped her hand into JJ’s underwear and grinned.

Right as Emily was getting ready to make JJ scream her name she felt a little hand tug the hem of her pants. “Aunt Em’ly?”

Emily jumped off JJ so quickly she completely fell off the couch and hit her head on the coffee table. She sat up too quickly and her vision faded to black before she passed out.

JJ smiled as Emily came to, holding an ice pack to Emily’s head. “Hey baby.” she said, clearly holding back a laugh. “You’ve really got to get used to having a five year old around.” she watched Emily wince as she looked around the room. “I already put him back to bed. He wanted you to read him a story.”

JJ rolled her eyes and chuckled though whether at the situation or Emily in particular no one could be sure

“But I think you’re done for the night”

“Oh my god, my head,” Emily pouted. “He scared the shit out of me! Did he ask what we were doing? Does he know about sex? No, of course he doesn’t, he’s five. I mean, he doesn’t, right? Oh my god, I am so embarrassed. I promise to never try and fuck you on the couch again! I probably scarred him for life. I am the absolute worst. ‘Hey Henry, you’re dad is an abusive ass hole and your Aunt Em is fucking your mom.’ Jesus, I’m going to be the reason he needs therapy, aren’t I?”

Emily finally took a breath long enough to see tears welling at the sides of JJ’s eyes as she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

“JJ! This is serious! We have to be more careful! You have to teach me Mom etiquette. It’s been over ten years since I lived with a child. I’m rusty at this!”

She sighed, JJ was doing her best not to double over in hysterics. Emily finally just rolled her eyes, “Fine, let it out.”

They both ended up laughing so hard they cried. It felt good to have a hearty laugh after the day they had. Emily finally caught her breath and smiled.

“Let’s go to bed. Our bed.”

JJ kissed her chastely and nodded, standing up from the couch, holding out her hand to Emily who took it as she led them upstairs. They stopped by the doorway of the guest room where Henry was sleeping to find him passed out on his stomach, one hand wrapped firmly around Frank.

Satisfied that her son was down for the count, JJ went into Emily’s room where JJ crawled into bed and was content to just watch Emily move about her nightly routine

Emily was brushing her teeth when she suddenly remembered the text from Will. She pulled her phone out of her pocket to find five other missed texts from Will. All along the same theme of the first.

Emily stared at the screen and knew she probably shouldn’t reply but she was always the one to poke the bear so she simply replied, “Sorry, I just saw these, I was too busy tucking in your son and fucking your wife. ; ) Night William”

Emily finished up in the bathroom and crawled into bed next to her wife.WHOA! NOPE. NO WAY. That did NOT just cross her mind. Emily realized for the first time all day that she was truly in deep with JJ. That there was an actual possibility to live a happy life together as a family. The thought was both comforting and terrifying.

“Hey babe, I for got to tell you, Will text me tonight. He said “You already have my slut wife you’re not taking my boy’ then followed that up with some other choice words. I just wanted you to know, I don’t want to keep secrets from you. But it was no big deal, I handled it.”

JJ watched a moment of panic flash on Emily’s face as she crawled up the head of the bed to settle in next to her and she was about to ask about the expression when Emily told her Will had texted her that night. That would make sense since JJ changed her number there wasn’t any way he could contact her directly and it would make sense why Emily had looked so briefly panicked

“God, I’m sorry, Em. What did you say back to him?”

Emily bit her lip for a moment, she could lie but that wouldn’t be fair. She wanted to be open and honest with JJ. So she had to tell the truth, “I told him I tucked Henry in…”

Emily paused and kissed JJ happily. JJ pulled away and crossed her arms waiting for the rest of the story.

“…and then I said I was too busy to reply because I was fucking his wife. And then I called him William…”

“Emily!” JJ exclaimed in shock. “Are you trying to get us all killed? He’s clearly unstable and dangerous. We don’t know what exactly it is that he’s capable of besides being cruel towards me. Why would you do this?” JJ’s eyes filled with tears as realization hit her

“Is this a game to you, Emily? Am I just something to wave over Will’s head and show him that you won? Is that all this is going to be for you?”

“Oh god, Jennifer,” Emily felt like shit. She let her sass get in the way of logic and she really had potentially put them all in danger. “That’s not what this is at all. You know I’m insecure and when I feel insecure I get snarky.”

“You’re right, I should have never even replied. Baby, I am so sorry. Please know that this is not a game to me. This is serious. I really fucked up, I see that now. I won’t reply to him anymore. I promise I won’t have anymore contact with him outside of being the mediator when we go to the house.”

She looked JJ in the eyes in all seriousness, “I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me for being an ass hole. That’s not who I am. I’m not him and yet I stooped to his level. I understand if I have to earn your trust back.”

“I can sleep on the couch tonight.” Emily grabbed her pillow and a blanket, “I love you. I’m so sorry.”

JJ caught Emily by the wrist before she even made two steps away from the bed. She looked back at her with a closed off expression, but JJ could tell it was a front. Emily always did that when she didn’t want to cry

“Wait, stay.” JJ pleased, tugging Emily back down to the mattress. “Look, what you did was unnecessary and mildly dangerous because of the unknowns but I love you and I know that you wouldn’t do anything to purposely hurt me or put us in danger. I just…” she looked down at her hands and directed her speech to them. “I just am having a hard time believing lately why anyone would want to be with me. You especially. Will’s got me in this state of mind where I except everyone to treat me like he does eventually. “But I’m trying Em,” she put her hand on one side of JJ’s face gently. “I’m really trying. Stay, please?”

Emily took JJ’s hands in hers and smiled warmly. “I want to be with you. I’ve wanted it for as long as I can remember. You mean the world to me. You and Henry are my family now. I love you.”

“I know you’re trying and I know it will take time. I’ll be patient and helping you along the way. Will has stripped you of the self confidence you once had but I’m going to help you find it again.”

“You’ll take your broken wings and learn to fly, blackbird.”

Emily hugged JJ tightly and kissed her on the forehead. “Come lay down and let me tell you all the reasons why I love you.”

She slipped out of her clothes and turned down the bed. She wrapped herself around JJ, noting how perfectly they fit together and how nice it felt to feel JJ’s smooth skin against hers.

When they had settled in Emily began to whisper in JJ’s ear all of the reasons why she loved her, sealing each one with a kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

JJ was pulled into consciousness by the feeling of a little foot planted on her stomach and she smiled as she opened her eyes to find Henry curled into an odd pretzel against her. She smoothed his hair back and leaned over to kiss his forehead “Good morning baby.” she murmured so as not to wake Emily

“Hi mommy.” Henry returned, his quiet voice clearly needing some work. “Is Em’ly ready to make a blanket fort today? Can we have pancakes? Is it time to get up now? Can I watch cartoons?”

JJ chuckled at the rapid fire questions coming at her and rolled onto her back when she felt Emily rousing beside her, Henry sitting on his mother’s stomach and peering over at Emily

Emily felt the movement on the bed and rolled over expecting to kiss her lover but instead opened her eyes to find Henry straddled across JJ’s bare abdomen with a very big grin on his face.

“Aunt Em’ly!” he exclaimed as he crawled off his mother and onto Emily to smother her in kisses.

Emily froze, she was completely naked and there Henry was climbing all over her. She shyly pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts. “Good morning?”

She glanced over at JJ (who was also nude and exposed), horrified. She whispered as if Henry couldn’t hear her, “Umm, babe? I’m sort of naked…”

JJ laughed and rolled her eyes. “Em, he’s five, not deaf.” she rolled onto her side and propped her head up with one hand and squinted at Emily. “It’s not a big deal, I decided early on with Henry not to make a big deal out of nudity although he does have to learn not to go into rooms when doors are closed.” She eyed her son who pouted sheepishly.

“Henry, why don’t you go downstairs and start on the cartoons and we’ll be down in a little bit.” JJ suggested

Henry launched himself off the bed with a joyful shriek and thundered down the stairs, chasing after Sergio whom he’d woken in the hallway

“Are you totally traumatized?” JJ asked with a laugh, leaning over to kiss Emily

“Am I traumatized?” Emily repeated with horror in her voice. “Your five year old just saw me naked in bed with you. Only one night after you told him you were leaving Will. You don’t think that’s confusing for him?”

“I think we should talk to him, about us. Is that crazy? Is it too soon? I just don’t want him to be confused as to what’s going on here. You two living here, me coming to live with you once the house is yours again… I just think we should keep him in the loop. He’s part of this family too.”

Emily sighed, “Maybe I’m giving him too much credit. He’s only five, right? I don’t know. I’m sorry JJ, I’m trying. I am but you have to help me out on some of this stuff.”

JJ tugged the sheet down from Emily’s body and placed a gentle kiss on the brunette’s shoulder. “No, you’re right, Em. There’s nothing for you to apologize for. I’m sorry I didn’t warn you.” She kissed her shoulder again. “You’re right, we should talk to him. Let’s get some clothes on and go have a conversation with Henry, okay?”

They got dressed in pajamas quickly and went downstairs to find Henry sitting on the couch dangling string in front of Sergio, the cartoons blaring on the TV having been all but forgotten. He looked up when JJ flipped off the TV and she and Emily settled in on either side of Henry.

“Henry, we want to talk to you, can you leave Sergio be?” JJ asked, unsure how to really start.

“Kay.” Henry agreed, dropping the string onto Sergio and pulling his knees up to his chin.

“Do you remember last night I told you your daddy is in trouble and we’re not going to be around him for a long time?”

Henry nodded “He was bad.” he echoed dutifully.

“Yes, well, I’m not ever going to get back with daddy, do you understand that?”

“I don’t want daddy to make you cry anymore.”

“And he won’t. But Henry me and your Auntie Emily are together like me and your daddy were together, do you understand?”

“Em’ly is my nother mommy?”

JJ looked over helplessly at Emily, unsure how to answer that question. It was one thing to confirm between the two of them they were in it for the long haul but was something else entirely to talk about it with a confused five year old boy

“Well,” Emily said thoughtfully, “Not exactly. Your Mommy and I aren’t married, like she was to your Daddy. We just love each other very much and want to spend our time together and with you.”

Henry scowled, “So you’re not nother Mommy?”

Not yet. Emily thought but that was a conversation for another day entirely. “You can just call me Aunt Emily still, unless you want to call me something else. I love you and you can call me anything you wish.”

Henry thought for a second, “I like calling you Em’ly!”

“Okay, darling,” Emily smiled as she kissed the boy.

Henry kissed her back, “I’m a dar’win?”

Emily chuckled, “You’ll always be my Darwin. Are you okay with me being with your Mommy? I want to make sure you’re okay with all of this. I know it might be confusing.”

“Yes, I want you to be my nother mommy, Em’ly. You won’t make mommy cry anymore. She could be happy.”

JJ smiled and smoothed Henry’s hair back. “Emily makes me very happy, baby, don’t worry”

Henry clambered up into Emily’s lap and put his little hands on either side of her face, staring hard into her eyes. “You make me happy too, Em’ly” he said seriously. “Can we make a blanket fort?”

Emily smiled, “We can absolutely make a blanket fort.”

The three spent most of the morning constructing a massive fort in the living room comprised of blankets, pillows, and various pieces of furniture. Emily escaped the fun just long enough to make pancakes and serve them picnic style in the center of the fort.

“This is fun!” Henry squealed as he stuffed his face full of pancakes and syrup. “I want to stay here always!”

“You can stay as long as you want,” Emily replied as she booped him on his button nose.

Just about the time Henry was winding down for his afternoon nap Emily’s phone rang. She checked the caller ID but didn’t recognize the number so she let it go to voice mail. Five minutes later, another phone call. Another voice mail. Three minutes later, another call and she finally answered.

“Prentiss.”

“You think you can just take my family away?” Will slurred.

“Will, I’m not going to discuss this with you. I made myself clear yesterday, you have until next weekend.”

“Listen here, you bitch. Put my wife on the phone, right now!”

Emily could tell he was drunk and it was only a quarter past noon. She had no time for his antics and she sure as hell wasn’t going to be putting JJ on the phone.

“Will, do not call me again. JJ doesn’t want to talk to you and frankly, neither do I.”

“I swear to god, I will kill you!” Will threatened.

Emily’s stomach dropped for a moment. She knew he was drunk but she wasn’t sure what he was truly capable of. He knew where she lived and he knew JJ and Henry were staying there. But there was nothing she could do unless he actually lashed out.

“Listen here, if you come anywhere near Henry or JJ again I will end you. Do you understand? I don’t make empty threats, do not test me.”

Emily didn’t even give him a chance to reply. She hung up the phone and sat down on the couch just as JJ was coming in from the guest room.

“JJ, I’m worried.”

“Mommy?” Henry asked as JJ tucked him into the bed.

“Yes baby”

“Is daddy a bad man?”

JJ frowned and sat on the edge of the bed, squeezing Henry’s upper arm gently. “Yes baby” she whispered

“Because daddy makes you cry?”

JJ pondered her answer before nodding slightly. “Your daddy hurts me very much.”

“And doesn’t say he’s sorry?”

“He does,” JJ conceded. “But he doesn’t mean it, he’s not really sorry and he keeps doing the bad things.”

Henry nodded sagely. “I hate daddy.”

JJ kissed his forehead. “Oh baby, you don’t hate anyone.”

“I do! I hate daddy because he does bad things to you and makes you cry all the time. Auntie Em’ly hasn’t made you cry one time today.”

“That’s true.” JJ smiled. “Are you really okay with Emily maybe being another mother to you?”

Henry yawned. “Yes. I love Em’ly, don’t you?”

JJ smoothed his hair back. “Very much. And I love you too baby. Sleep tight.”

“I love you too mommy. And Frank loves you.”

JJ gave the stuffed dinosaur a kiss and another one for Henry before making her way back out to the living room where Emily was sitting on the couch looking anxious.

“JJ, I’m worried.” she said

“What’s wrong, Em?”

“Sit down,” Emily made room on the couch and JJ looked at her worriedly. “That call was Will. He’s drunk and was going off and usually that wouldn’t bother me. But he made some threats and I don’t know what he’s truly capable of, neither of us do. Jayje, he knows where I live…”

“I just, I just don’t know if you should stay here. Not until it’s safe. I have a lawyer you can see tomorrow to file for divorce but until Will is actually gone… I’m just so worried.” Emily broke down for the first time and started crying. “I just don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”

JJ wrapped her arms around Emily and kissed the top of her head as she cried.

“No Emily, I’m not leaving. Whatever he’s going to do, we’ll be stronger together. I won’t leave you to face him alone. We’re going to make sure nothing happens to us. Any of us. Okay? I love you and I refuse to leave you.”

Emily wanted to protest but she knew JJ was right. They would be better together, whatever Will had planned. Emily rested her head in JJ’s lap and just cried, it was as if once she started she couldn’t stop. All of the worry and fear she had been hiding for two days was flooding out of her.

“I love you,” she managed to get out between sobs. She felt terrible to let JJ see her like this, vulnerable and weak. She wanted to be strong for the blonde she wanted to hold it together but she was so tired and she could only keep a brave face for so long. She was only human, after all.

JJ wrapped her arms around Emily and kissed the top of her head as she cried.

“No Emily, I’m not leaving. Whatever he’s going to do, we’ll be stronger together. I won’t leave you to face him alone. We’re going to make sure nothing happens to us. Any of us. Okay? I love you and I refuse to leave you.”

Emily kissed JJ on the lips and laid her head on JJ’s shoulder. “ You’re too good to me.”

They laid together on the couch and soon drifted off to sleep. Twenty minutes or so later they were awakened by a loud banging at the front door.

“I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!”

Emily shot up from the couch, “You go get Henry, I’ll deal with him.”

JJ nodded and ran off towards the guest room while Emily made her way to the door. “You’re not welcome here. I’ve made that clear, Will!”

“FUCKING OPEN THIS DOOR OR I’LL KICK IT IN!” the banging continued as he screamed.

Not wanting her neighbors to get involved, Emily opened the door but left the chain lock done and her foot planted firmly behind the door to prevent him from opening it further.

“Will, lower your voice. Why the hell are you here?”

“You know exactly why I’m here! Let me talk to JJ!”

“JJ doesn’t want to see you, you have no business being here. Leave or I call the cops.”

“I’M NOT LEAVING UNTIL I SEE MY FUCKING WIFE!”

JJ got Henry to the guest room and told him to stay put and stay quiet. She closed the door behind her as she made her way back out to the front of the apartment where she could hear Will yelling.

“You see me,” JJ said, her voice steady. “Now leave.”

Will’s body language immediately relaxed and he turned his gaze onto JJ. “Come on darlin. Come home. This dyke is trying to poison you against me, I’ll forgive you, we can get better.”

JJ shook her head. “No, we’re finished, Will and you won’t talk about Emily like that, I love her.”

“I knew you were cheating on me you whore!” Will roared, pushing up against the door to try and get in. “LET ME IN”

Before Emily had time to react Will had given the door one final kick and it flew open, knocking her to the ground.

“JJ!” Emily yelled as she clamored to get up from the floor.

Will had closed the distance between him and JJ and had his hands around her neck. She was fighting with all her power but he was too strong.

Emily came at him from behind and tried to pull him away. He turned and punched her in the face, returning her to the floor. Emily used her position to kick the back of his knee and it buckled, Making him fall to his knees, giving JJ the moment she needed to escape. She scurried across the floor on all fours, trying to get to her phone on the coffee table.

Will recovered and ran after her. He kicked her in the back and she went down. He kneeled on her back and started choking her from behind.

“I’ll fucking kill you, you whore!!” he yelled as he tightened his grip. JJ was powerless, lying on her stomach under the weight of him on top of her.

Emily finally stumbled to her feet but before she could get to JJ’s aid she heard a scream from the hallway.

“MOMMY!” Henry shrieked as he began to cry.

“Henry! Go to the bedroom and lock the door!” Emily yelled at him, “NOW!”

Henry did as he was told and ran down the hallway back to the bedroom. Emily rushed over to Will, picking up a nearby lamp, she slammed it against his head, knocking him off JJ.

By this time one of the neighbors must have called the police because sirens whirred outside. Will got to his feet, shoved Emily to the couch and ran out the front door.

JJ lay on the floor, motionless.


	8. Chapter 8

JJ opened her eyes slowly when she heard the tinkling sound of someone’s laughter somewhere near where her head was laying. Squinting against the bright light of the room she was in, she registered that she was laying on a soft bed in an unfamiliar house. She heard laughter again and she turned her head to the side, ignoring her splitting headache to find someone she thought she’d never see again sitting in a chair by the bed.

“Rosaline?” she looked older, but that was definitely her sister.

“Hey Jenny.” Rosaline chirped perkily. “You took quite a nasty spill back there. How are you feeling?”

The truth was her throat hurt and her head was throbbing but none of that mattered because there was her sister. “How?”

“How what?”

“How are you here?”

Rosaline laughed, the sound seeming to brighten the room. “Technically it’syou who are here. Don’t worry about it too much, little sister. Can you sit up?”

JJ sat up gingerly with the other blonde’s help and promptly threw her arms around her sister and hugged her for all she was worth. “I miss you so much Ros.”

“I know Jenny,” she said returning the hug fiercely. “I know.”

They rocked back and forth in each other’s arms for a long moment, both of them crying in relief until Rosaline pulled back and wiped her eyes. “I have someone here I really think you should meet.”

JJ looked at her sister questioningly but Rosaline just smiled as a small streak of blonde hair and high laughter came streaking into the room and jumped on the bed, enveloping JJ in a hug with her tiny arms. JJ laughed and returned the hug automatically “And who’s this?”

The little girl pulled back and JJ was startled to see deep brown eyes gazing back at her. “Don’t you remember me, mommy?” she asked with a smile

JJ stroked her fingers down one cheek still delightfully pudgy with baby fat and looked into the eyes of the daughter she never got to have. “Rosaline.” she whispered, tears running down her cheeks “I would have named you Rosaline.”

“That was really flattering, Jen.” her sister said from next to her.

“Auntie Ros and I have been waiting for you, haven’t we?”

Rosaline nodded. “We have.”

“You mean I can stay?” JJ asked hopefully.

Rosaline shook her head sadly. “Not this time, sweetie. Don’t you remember what’s out there for you?” she waved her hand casually at the bedroom door.

JJ frowned, she couldn’t remember what was beyond the door, how she’d come to be with her sister and unborn child who were supposed to be dead. Is that what this was?

“Am I…?”

Rosaline laughed again and JJ’s daughter giggled. “No, not yet.” her sister said. “Very nearly.”

“I want to stay here with you and little Ros.”

“You can’t, Jenny, it’s not time.”

As if on cue she heard a far away voice shouting “Dammit Jennifer, don’t do this to me!”

“Emily?” JJ asked, looking up at the ceiling. That’s right, Emily was fighting off Will and, oh god, Will “I can’t stay.” JJ said sorrowfully. She wanted to, god how she wanted to. She was so warm and at peace and the little girl in her arms felt like she belonged there. “I want to though Ros. I want to stay with you”

“I know Jen. I love you.”

“I love you too, mommy!” her daughter piped up

JJ squeezed the little girl tighter and smiled when Rosaline leaned over to press a kiss to her forehead. “I love you too.” she was about to ask when she’d be able to be with them for good when the room around her started to fade out into blackness

“Dammit Jennifer, don’t do this to me!” Emily yelled as she checked for a pulse, rolling JJ on her back,

When she couldn’t find a rhythm she began chest compressions, she knew after Will’s original beating JJ probably already had some fractured ribs but she couldn’t be gentle if she wanted to save the blonde.

Emily pressed, once, twice, three times. Then leaned JJ’s head back and blew air into her lungs. Once, Twice, three times. Breathe. Over and over.

“Aunt Em’ly?” Henry asked as he came into the living room, crying.

“Henry, stay back!” Emily screamed. “Stay back baby.”

Once, twice, three times. Breathe. Still, nothing

“Come on, Jennifer, I need you to come back to me…”

Once, twice, three times. JJ coughed as her eyes fluttered open. Emily broke down into tears, lifting JJ into her lap. Kissing her over and over.

“I thought we’d lost you,” Emily cried. Henry came running in and collapsed next to his mother, sobbing as hard as Emily.

The police made their way through the front door, guns drawn. Emily shielded Henry’s eyes and called out, “He’s gone. He’s gone.”

JJ hadn’t wanted to go to the hospital but the responding paramedics and Emily insisted. They allowed Emily to drive her to the ER and they spent the next several hours verifying that JJ was physically okay. By the time they got home, it was well after dark and Henry had been strangely quiet, only making noises of protestation whenever someone tried to get him to leave his mother’s side

“Henry,” JJ started as Emily unlocked the front door of the apartment. Her voice was still gravelly with the force with which she was choked. “Baby you’ve been so quiet all night. Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Henry turned tear filled eyes onto JJ. “I wanna leave”

“Leave where?”

“Em’ly promised she wouldn’t hurt you but I sawed her mommy. I wanna leave. I hate Em’ly”

Emily and JJ stared at each other in confusion. Henry simply clung to his mother’s leg, “I wanna leave!” he repeated louder.

“Baby, why do you want to leave?” Emily asked but Henry snubbed her and buried his face in JJ’s pant leg.

Even though she had multiple rib fractures, JJ picked her son up and brought him to the couch where she sat him in her lap. Emily sat down on the other side of the couch and frowned, she reached to hold Henry’s hand but he jerked away quickly and snuggled into JJ’s chest.

“Henry, you said you saw…do you want to talk about what you saw?” Emily asked. Henry shook his head forcefully. Emily sighed and looked to JJ for help.

JJ sighed and rubbed soothing circles on Henry’s back. “Henry, tell us what you saw okay? We can talk about it”

“Em’ly was making you hurt!” Henry shouted through his tears. “You were on the ground and Auntie Em’ly was blowing on you and making you hurt.”

JJ frowned and pulled back from her son a bit so she could look at him. “Henry, Emily wasn’t hurting me at all, okay? I couldn’t breathe so she had to breathe for me, do you understand?”

Henry looked over to Emily. “You weren’t hurting mommy?”

“Darwin, do you remember when we pinky swore? I said I would never hurt your Mommy and I meant it. Your Mommy needed me help so she could breathe,” Emily tried to explain to the young boy.

“Your Daddy hurt your Mommy very badly so I was helping her get better,” Emily bit her lip thinking about how close she had come to losing JJ. “That’s why we had to go see the doctor. He wanted to make sure your Mommy was okay.”

Henry looked at Emily suspiciously as if he was trying to decide whether or not he should trust her. Finally, he nodded and scrambled across the couch to sit in her lap. He placed his chubby hands on her cheeks and gave her a sloppy kiss on the lips.

“Okay, Em’ly. I sowwy,” Henry smiled for a moment before his face turned serious. “Why did Daddy say Mommy was a horse?”

JJ choked on her own spit and tried to think of how to answer Henry’s earnest question. “Your daddy called me a bad name.” JJ started unsurely

“Why?” Henry asked

“Daddy feels bad and he thinks if he makes me feel bad, it’ll make him feel better, do you understand?”

“I think so. Daddy was the one that hurt you bad”

“Yes”

“I hate daddy.” Henry declared, burying his face into Emily’s neck

Emily’s heart hurt when she heard Henry say that about his dad but she hated Will too. She hated everything about him and what he had done to JJ, how he had scared Henry. She despised him. She couldn’t wait for Will to be out of the picture.

“Darwin, hate is a mean word. You can be mad at your Daddy but you shouldn’t hate anyone. It’s not very nice,” Emily tried to explain.

“But Daddy isn’t vewy nice! He hurt Mommy and he made you cry! I don’t like him. I don’t want to see Daddy anymore!” Henry said as he began to cry.

“You don’t ever have to see your Daddy again, if you don’t want to,” Emily told the young boy as she held him to her chest. “You’re with your Mommy and me now. We’re going to take care of you. We love you very much. Don’t you ever forget that.”

Henry sniffled and wiped his nose on his arm, “I love you too Mom’ly.”

JJ and Emily looked at each other for a moment. “What did you call me?”

“Mom’ly! You said I could call you whatever I wanted, I want to call you Mom’ly”

“Mom’ly?” Emily questioned.

Henry nodded proudly, “Mom’ly because you’re Em’ly and you love me like Mom!”

Emily teared up and held Henry close, kissing his cheek. “I love it.”

She looked to JJ who was also tearing up. Maybe after the storm calmed they would actually be a family, Emily thought. Maybe they could have a happy ending after all.

“Come on Henry,” JJ said. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“Can I sleep with you and mom’ly?” Henry asked. “I promise I’ll be good.”

JJ didn’t know how to say no to that and she looked over at Emily who just smiled and nodded her head. “Of course baby.” They made their way upstairs, Emily carrying Henry and got Henry into his pyjamas before slipping into their own, they were in silent agreement that it had been too long of a day and they were going to turn in early with Henry

They snuggled into each other in Emily’s bed, Emily holding JJ and JJ holding Henry. Just before she fell asleep, JJ thought how she could go to bed like this every night and never get over the wonder of it all

While Henry and JJ slept, Emily lied awake thinking about how close she had come to nearly losing JJ for good. It terrified her to think that Will was capable of such violence. She wanted him gone, needed him out of their lives forever.

She hoped that now he was in the wind he wouldn’t come back. He knew if he did he’d be arrested for assault. It would be best for everyone if he simply skipped town but deep down Emily feared he wouldn’t.

She had planned a meeting with her lawyer for JJ to file divorce papers the following morning. Her lawyer explained with the police report of Will’s assault and him being in the wind, there was no question about custody. Emily had breathed a sigh of relief for that small victory.

Emily knew they’d have to take a couple of days off, both due to JJ’s injuries and figuring out the next steps. She rolled over to snuggle JJ and found solace in the docile sounds of JJ and Henry’s soft breathing. She thought to herself that this was what unconditional love felt like.


	9. Chapter 9

Sometime during the night Henry had crawled between Emily and JJ. Emily opened her eyes to find the young boy sprawled between them. She smiled, seeing the two loves of her life as soon as she opened her eyes. She watched them sleep as tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

Henry stirred and looked at her, “Mom’ly? Why are you sad?”

Emily kissed him, “I’m not sad Darwin. I’m happy that you and your Mommy are here with me.”

Henry yawned and snuggled into Emily, “I’m happy too.” In a matter of minutes he had drifted off again.

Emily reached over to the nightstand with her free hand and grabbed her cell phone, it was early but she needed to let Hotch know they wouldn’t be in that day.

Emily {text}: JJ was injured yesterday and I need to help her out with Henry. I’ll explain later but we’ll both take a sick day today.

Hotch {text}: Should I be concerned?

Emily {text}: Nothing we can’t handle. Just need a little time for her to heal.

Hotch {text}: Okay, let me know if you need anything.

Emily set her phone back on the night stand and wrapped her arms around the young boy who was nuzzling her neck. She kissed the top of his head and drifted back to sleep happily.

JJ woke up with a start, not registering where she was at first until she felt Henry’s little foot pressed firmly into her back. She smiled and rolled over, watching her two favourite people sleeping–Henry tangled up in Emily’s arms

Waking up next to Emily and her son was an amazing feeling. A feeling she thought she’d never get to experience though she’d thought about it more often than not though she never allowed herself to dwell on the idea too long because of the pangs that it caused

She leaned over Henry to place a kiss against Emily’s cheek and then one against Henry’s forehead. She could get used to them being a family with frightening ease but she wasn’t scared. For once she wasn’t scared

“Morning beautiful” JJ murmured when Emily stirred awake

“Good morning, Ma Petite,” Emily smiled as she reached over Henry and brushed JJ’s hair out of her eyes. “You’re so gorgeous and I love waking up next to you.”

Emily slipped off the side of the bed without disturbing Henry, she motioned to JJ to follow her. JJ smiled and rolled off the other side of the bed. They met at the foot of the bed and Emily wrapped her arms around JJ’s waist and drew her in close, kissing her fervently.

“Join me for a shower?” Emily asked, as she placed a few chaste kisses on JJ’s lips. “Before the little one stirs?”

She took JJ by the hand and lead her into the bathroom. She turned on the shower and helped JJ out of her clothes, kissing her naked skin. “I love you.” A kiss to the neck. “I love you.” A kiss the shoulders. “I love you” A kiss to the chest.

JJ moaned quietly as Emily ghosted her hands over JJ’s torso. “Let me take care of you,” Emily whispered in JJ’s ear as she nibbled her ear lobe. They stepped into the pre-heated shower, lips pressed firmly against each other. Hands exploring naked skin.

Emily turned JJ around and pressed against her back, pinning JJ to the tile wall. Water ran down her back as she slipped her hand between JJ’s thighs. Emily went to work as she kissed JJ’s neck, nibbling and nipping here and there. JJ reached behind her with one hand, entangled it in Emily’s hair. The other hand pinned to the wall by Emily.

Before long JJ’s body tightened as she pulled at Emily’s hair. She screamed out in pleasure before her knees gave out, Emily caught her by the waist and turned her around to kiss her lips.

There was a tiny knock at the door, barely audible over the sound of the shower. “Mommy? Are you crying?” Henry asked through the closed door. JJ and Emily bit their lips to keep from laughing.

“I guess that means the fun is over.” JJ giggled, pressing a kiss to Emily’s lips. “No baby,” she said louder so Henry could hear her. “I’m coming out in a second.”

She ran her fingers through Emily’s hair and kissed her again. “You’re coming with me to see the lawyer, right?” she asked a little self consciously

“Of course, I am,” Emily replied as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. “I want to know what Gina says and how soon we can get this over with. I’ll be with you every step of the way, darling.”

“We can drop Henry off at your mom’s on the way. I text her last night to be sure she’d be home. I’m trying to get this ‘Mom’ thing down,” Emily paused. “Well I mean, I’m not his mom…but I just meant…I just meant I’m trying to be helpful…”

JJ stepped out of the shower as well and wrapped her arms around Emily’s waist, kissing her languidly. “You’re doing pretty great at this mom thing, Em.” she promised. She returned the smile Emily gave her before winding a towel around herself and exiting the bathroom

Henry was on Emily’s bed murmuring something to Sergio who was tolerating the little boys heavy pets

“Come on, Henry, let’s get you dressed.” JJ said, holding out her hand. “We’re going to take you to grandma’s today.”

Henry gave a jubilant shout and scrambled off the bed. “Can I bring Sergio?”

JJ laughed. “Sergio will be here when you get back okay? Come on.”

Emily and JJ arrived at the law office of Gina Sosa at a quarter past eleven o’clock. Emily chewed on her nails, nervously, as they awaited their appointment. She truly hoped JJ had nothing to worry about but Emily didn’t know enough about divorce law to say anything for sure.

During their appointment Emily’s leg bounced up and down as JJ described her situation and the extent of Will’s abuse. It made Emily sick hearing the details.

“Well, you have a solid case,” Gina replied, “But Will could still file for custody. I’m not saying he’d get it but it would hold you up in court for a time. He could rebut your motion for full custody and file his own. Again, it is unlikely but it’s still something you need to be prepared for, just in case.”

Emily’s heart sank at the thought that Will could end up with Henry. She knew if she was upset by this news then JJ must be beside herself. JJ filed the appropriate paperwork and they were on their way.

Once they were alone in the car, Emily spoke up first, “You shouldn’t worry, babe. Gina said it was highly unlikely that Will would get custody. And any judge would never grant him custody after what he’s put you through.”

JJ chewed on her bottom lip nervously. “Yeah but what if he goes for custody anyway? They might not grant him that but I don’t want to go through the circus of going to court Emily.” she shook her head. “He’s never going to leave me alone, is he?”

Emily sighed, “I don’t know. He’s certainly made a mess of things. Let’s try to focus on one thing at a time if he wants to drag you through a custody hearing then we’ll deal with that as it happens. For now, let’s be happy that you and Henry are safe and we’re all together.”

“Although we can’t live in this Utopian paradise forever,” Emily reached over and patted JJ’s thigh, “We have to get back to work tomorrow.”

“You’re right.” JJ sighed. “One day at a time.” she tangled her hand up with Emily’s that sat on her thigh “I wish we could live in this utopian paradise forever.” she squeezed the hand in hers. “What are we going to do about work, Em? We’re going to have to tell the team about everything, now that Will’s followed through on his threats, they have to know. We have to tell them about us too, if you think that’s a good idea?”

Emily groaned, she hadn’t even thought about that. Telling the team about Will, fine. But having Derek rub her nose in the fact she was finally with JJ? She did not want to think about how many ‘I told you so’s’ and ‘about times’ she was going to hear.

“You don’t have to disclose anything about Will that you don’t want to, darling. You can just stick to the facts, that you’re getting a divorce. It’s no one’s business the rest, unless you really want to share.”

“And as far as we go,” Emily sighed, “I guess they’ll figure it out eventually so we may as well tell them now.”

“Garcia is never going to shut up about this.”

JJ laughed humourlessly “She’ll be screaming for the next thirty days for sure.”

“I want to tell the team what’s going on with Will. It could be dangerous for any of them now that he’s basically gone off the rails. I won’t put anyone else in danger if I don’t have to.”

Emily knew JJ was right but she still hated that JJ would have to explain to the entire team what had been happening. She could only imagine how the team would look at her like she was some broken, innocent thing that needed to be fixed. Emily knew better. She knew JJ was strong and would come back from all of this. She knew if anyone could turn their life around after an abusive relationship, it would be JJ.

Emily smiled, “We still have the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. What do you say we go home, snuggle up on the couch and unwind? Just you and me? A little Delta Rae and a couple of bottles of wine? Sandy won’t be bringing Henry over until around 8 o’clock, she said we needed the time to ourselves.”

“Maybe we could finish what we started this morning?” Emily grinned. “Or I can draw you a hot bath and you can lock yourself away, get lost for a little while. Whatever your wish, is my command.”

Emily squeezed JJ’s thigh, “I love you.”

JJ smiled and brushed her hand down Emily’s arm. “I’m interested in finishing what we started this morning, honestly.” She wasn’t looking forward to having to tell the team what had been going on but it had to be done. It was something that could wait for the next day though

“I just want to have all the time with you that I can before this shit storm hits.” JJ admitted.


	10. Chapter 10

When they pulled up to Emily’s building they found two police cars out front. Emily’s heart stopped. She and JJ rushed upstairs to find two officers outside of Emily’s apartment door, which had apparently been kicked in.

“Officer? I’m Emily Prentiss, I live here.”

“Ma’am, your neighbors called when they saw a man leaving your apartment after loud noises and with what happened here the other day they wanted to be safe. Looks like he ransacked the place.”

Emily and JJ made their way inside, it had to have been Will. The guest room had been torn apart, Henry’s things were missing. Emily realized something and ran upstairs to her bedroom.

She rushed to the nightstand where she had moved her gun after Will had attacked JJ, just in case. She found the nightstand empty. She came back downstairs.

“JJ, call your mother immediately, tell her to get Henry out of the house as soon as possible,” Emily paced back and forth. “Give the officers the address. I need you to stay calm…but Will has my gun.”

“Will has your gun?!” JJ asked frantically. “Emily how does will have your fucking gun?” she paced back and forth through the living room. “Henry’s things are missing and he has your gun, Emily. What are we supposed to do? What is he planning? If he takes Henry, I’m going to kill him”

“Right now, I need you to call your mom,” Emily replied calmly. “You can yell at me later, we have to make sure Sandy and Henry are safe.”

JJ gave Emily a look that said they would have words later but she did as Emily asked and she headed to the guest room to call her mother.

“Officer, look, her ex-husband is the man that broke in here and I have reason to believe he is armed and dangerous. I need you to send units to 914 Integrity as soon as possible, I’m sure he’s going after their son.”

The officer nodded in understanding and made the call. Emily looked up to find JJ coming back down the hallway, “Did you get a hold of her?”

“Yes,” JJ all but seethed. “They’re safe and I told them police are on their way. Now can we get back to why Will was able to get your gun in the first place? What were you thinking Emily? Why would you take your gun out of the safe?”

“I put it in my nightstand,” Emily started to explain, “I thought…fuck, I don’t know what I was thinking. I thought I wanted to keep it close, just in case…”

Emily knew it had been a bad idea. Her stomach turned at the thought of Henry getting a hold of it. She hadn’t kept it loaded, of course, but the thought was still devastating. She felt so guilty for letting Will get his hands on her weapon.

“Jennifer, I’m sorry.”

JJ put a hand to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut in exasperation. Getting angry wasn’t going to fix the fact that Will had his hands on a government issued weapon now. If he decided to go out and do something stupid, it would fall on Emily’s head

“Why do you think he took it?” she asked. Her immediate thought was that Will would go out and commit some crime with it to get Emily in trouble but the sudden realization that her ex who had threatened to kill them now had his hands on the means to do so. Her insides twisted up at the thought

“I don’t know,” Emily sighed. “He probably thought he’d go out and use it to hurt someone for whatever reason…”

As soon as she said it she wanted to take it back. The way JJ looked at her made her insides tighten. She was supposed to be reassuring but all she had done was make them both think about Will hurting, or even killing, someone with Emily’s gun.

“We should go to your Mom’s place and make sure she and Henry are okay.”

JJ nodded. “And now we’re definitely going to have to tell the team what’s going on because you need to be able to explain where your sidearm has gone off to.” she sighed heavily, she didn’t want to tell anymore people than was necessary right now. She knew the team would have to know eventually but eventually didn’t mean right now

They drove to Sandy’s in utter silence. Emily kept her eyes on the road, too afraid to make eye contact with JJ who she could feel glaring at her from the passenger seat. She knew she had royally fucked up and felt like a puppy with it’s tail between it’s legs.

They arrived at Sandy’s a little bit after the officers who had been dispatched for the welfare check. Emily parked the car out front and walked around the other side of the car to open JJ’s door. JJ didn’t wait, she got out of the car and slammed the door behind her, making her feelings known.

“Can we try and pretend we’re okay? Henry has got to be freaked out right now, I think we shouldn’t make it worse,” Emily pleaded.

“It’s for the best, yeah.” JJ conceded, unclenching her jaw. “But don’t think we’re done talking about this, Emily.”

She knew Emily was sorry, that wasn’t the point. The point was that Emily was so utterly careless that it might cost someone their life, maybe even one of them. JJ knew she’d go ballistic if anything happened to Henry or Emily–she didn’t need Will to have any fodder to have to figure out what she’d do if put in that situation

“Em'ly!” Henry screamed as he ran into her arms. “Em'ly the police men said Daddy is being bad. I’m scared.” He nuzzled his face into her neck and she kissed his forehead.

“It’s going to be okay baby.”

“Is it?” Sandy asked accusingly. Until that moment Emily wasn’t sure if JJ had told her about the gun but the tone in her voice made it very clear she wasn’t happy.

Before the adults could even sit down there was a commotion outside.

“THAT’S MY FUCKING SON IN THERE!”

“Drop the gun!”

“THAT BITCH HAS MY SON!”

“Drop the gun NOW!”

The last warning was followed by shots fired, then silence. Henry cried, Sandy screamed and Emily and JJ rushed outside with one of the officers.

Will laid on his stomach being cuffed by a large officer. Emily’s gun was splayed off to the side. Will was bleeding from a wound to the leg.

“Fuck you bitches!” Will yelled almost incoherently. “You’ll get yours!”

“Alright, let’s go,” the officer demanded as he called for an ambulance and sat Will in the back of his squad car.

“This has to clear evidence,” the female officer said as she picked up Emily’s gun with a gloved hand, “But you should have it back by the end of the week.”

“Thank you,” Emily nodded.

That was it. Will was arrested, Henry was safe. Emily breathed a heavy sigh of relief and hugged JJ. “It’s over now. We can move on”

JJ clutched at Emily’s arm in order to keep from swaying on her feet “Is it?” she wanted to be optimistic, Will was injured and in handcuffs, he wasn’t coming near them any time soon but JJ knew he was a tenacious sort but no, now wasn’t the time to let fear and uncertainty eat away at her. He was in police custody and had made very clear threats against them.

She put her head on Emily’s shoulder, still gripping her arm and forgetting her anger in the face of her relief “Move on.” she mumbled, watching as Will was wrestled onto a gurney and into the back of the ambulance that had approached. She wanted to do nothing more than move on at that moment. With Henry by her side. With Emily by her side as well.


	11. Chapter 11

By the time the three of them got home no one had anything to say about the afternoon’s events. Henry had worn himself out and was passed out in his car seat. Emily carefully lifted him out and slung the sleeping boy over her shoulder.

The building’s maintenance team had already replaced the door, which Emily was grateful for. She put Henry down for a nap in the guest room before joining JJ in the living room.

JJ had her arms wrapped around herself and she was visibly shaking. Emily sat down gently not wanting to startle the blonde. JJ barely paid her any attention, Emily reached out and took JJ’s hand.

“Do you want to talk?”

“I can’t help but feel this isn’t over.” JJ said in lieu of an answer to the question. “That he’s going to find some way to weasel out of custody and come after us.” she turned watery eyes onto Emily “I never wanted it to get like this Em, you have to believe me. I never wanted things to get this far”

“Jennifer,” Emily sighed heavily and wrapped her arm around JJ. “I know that. None of us thought he’d be capable of things like this. I guess you can’t tell what a person is capable of until you’re in the heat of things.”

Emily caressed JJ’s cheek, “I should be the one apologizing. Today wouldn’t have even happened if I had my gun locked up. But then again, in some way, I guess that’s the reason he’s finally in custody.”

Emily shrugged, it sounded like she was making excuses, but it was true. If he hadn’t have gotten her gun he wouldn’t have been arrested so quickly. However, it still made her sick to think what could have happened if the officers hadn’t responded so quickly. She tried to shake the thoughts from her mind.

“Look, the important thing is, Will can’t get to us now. We’re safe for now. Let’s try and get past this. We have a lot to explain when we get to work tomorrow. I’ll have to explain what happened to my gun to Strauss and Hotch. We’ll have to tell the team about us…ugh. Can’t we just call in sick?”

JJ paled, she’d forgotten about Strauss somehow. “Oh god Em what if they reassign one of us? I couldn’t deal with that. We’re a family, we work perfectly as a unit. I’d resign before they made me work someplace else”

Emily hadn’t even thought about it. She hadn’t had much time to think about anything really. It was all just sinking in the possible repercussions of what she’d allowed to happen.

“I’ll fight for us. If one of us has to be reassigned, I’ll volunteer. You’ve been there longer than me, the team is nothing without you. I’m expendable. Let them transfer me. But under no circumstance will either of us give up and resign. I love you but I won’t let you quit what you love doing over me.”

But you know neither of us would be truly happy if we weren’t with the team we have now. What are we gonna do, Emily?” JJ began to tear up. “I’ve made such an awful mess of things”

Emily hated hearing JJ blame herself for things that were out of her control. Emily knew it was just the way Will had emotionally manipulated and conditioned her and it made her sick. Every time JJ apologized, Emily’s heart broke a little more. Will had done so much damage and Emily had never noticed. How had she never noticed?

“Jayje, you haven’t made a mess of things. This isn’t your fault. None of this is your fault. This is all on Will. You were so strong and brave to come to me for help. And that’s what I plan on doing, I plan on helping you get back to the confident you I met many years ago. It’s going to take time but I’m not going anywhere. You’re not to blame, do you hear me? We’re in this together, I love you.”

Emily squeezed JJ’s hand and kissed her lips, “I’m not leaving you.”

JJ sighed into the kiss before pulling back. “But what if that’s best?” she noted the look of confusion on Emily’s face and clarified. “What if it’s best if you leave? I won’t put you in danger and so much has happened already. I don’t know” she finished dejectedly “Show me what to do”

“Baby, it’s not best. Even if you tried to push me away, I’m not going anywhere. We danced around this for long enough, you think I’d let you go that easily?”

Emily kissed JJ’s lips, her nose, her eyelids. She kissed each cheek and saw a small smile form.

“Let me take you upstairs and show you how much I appreciate you,” Emily purred into JJ’s ear with a bit of a nip on her ear lobe.

“I’d like that but I’m not sure how long Henry’s going to be out.” JJ said nodding towards the guest room where Henry was sleeping heavily. “That sure shouldn’t stop us from trying though, should it?”

Emily smiled, “No, that definitely should not stop us from trying.”

In one movement she pulled JJ up off the couch and pulled her close so their bodies were pressed together. She kissed JJ passionately, nibbling on JJ’s pouty lower lip.

She took JJ by the hand and lead her up the stairs and into the bedroom. She took her time placing kisses here and there along JJ’s face and neck line. She worked meticulously to unbotton JJ’s shirt until it finally fell free to the floor. Emily slipped her hand behind JJ’s back and unclasped her bra and let it drop unceremoniously next to the shirt.

Emily fumbled with JJ’s zipper but finally loosened the blonde’s pants. She pressed JJ’s back to the wall and hoisted JJ’s legs up around her waist, lips never parting.

Emily used one arm to hold JJ up while her other hand slid into action. She pumped in and out as JJ clawed at her back. The pain just made Emily more turned on as she worked to please her partner.

JJ clung to Emily, as she pressed her hips in closer. Emily got the hint and found a hard and fast rhythm that seemed to please JJ.

JJ let out soft moans as Emily bit down on her neck and sucked at the soft flesh. Right before Emily’s arm was about to give way, JJ clenched and screamed out before going lax in Emily’s arms and sliding down the wall to the floor.

Emily followed and sat down on the floor with a grin like the cat that ate the canary. She licked her fingers clean and smiled before leaning in and kissing JJ.

“Is that what you meant by, ‘show me how’?” she quipped.

“Well it definitely is now.” JJ conceded breathlessly, scooting herself closer to Emily so she could rest her head on her shoulder. “Look Em, I’m sorry I blew up at you earlier. I know you would never intentionally put me or Henry in harms way but that was just so…so astronomically stupid and it made me feel like you can’t trust me”

“We both look out for Henry and we look out for each other right? That was the deal? In the future please don’t do anything like that again without talking to me first okay?”

“I promise,” Emily sighed. “I’m so sorry, Jay. I obviously never meant for any of this to happen. And you can rest assured that I won’t be careless in the future.”

“Momma?” came a small voice from downstairs.

“You get dressed, I’ll go see our little man,” Emily leaned in and kissed JJ on the lips. “Coming, Henry!”

JJ nodded and stood on shaky legs to make her way into the bedroom where she quickly changed clothes and then headed downstairs. About halfway down the stairs she registered the sound of her son crying and she hurried the rest of the way down, finding him clinging to Emily on the couch and Emily looking up at her at a loss. JJ quickly made her way over to the pair and sat on the other side of Emily, easily taking her son from her lap and cradling him in her arms

She wiped off some of his tears and rocked him back and forth a little, soothing him with shushing sounds.

“What’s wrong, baby?” she asked when his sobbing died down a little

“I-I had a scary dream daddy came to get you again.” Henry warbled, fresh tears pricking his eyes. “I don’t want him to get us momma.”

“He’s not Henry, daddy’s not going to hurt me anymore and he’s not going to get us okay? Mom’ly and I will make sure of it, won’t we Em?” JJ asked, looking towards Emily

“That’s right,” Emily reassured him. “Your Mommy and I will always protect you. You don’t have to worry about a thing but just to be sure maybe you’d like to sleep with us upstairs tonight?”

Henry nodded happily and sniffled a little, wiping his nose on his shirt. “Yeah Mom’ly! I wanna sleep with you!”

“Alright, buddy. But first let’s have some dinner.” Emily took Henry’s hand and lead him into the kitchen, turning over her shoulder to wink back at JJ.

After dinner, JJ bathed Henry and got him ready for bed and, as promised, she snuggled in beside him in Emily’s bed. Emily joined them and read Henry his favorite bedtime story before slipping under the covers and flipping off the light.

She stared at the ceiling most of the night, listening to the soft breaths of JJ and Henry next to her. She couldn’t sleep, there was just too much on her mind. She knew she was possibly facing termination the following morning and she couldn’t stop worrying about what that would mean for her and JJ.


	12. Chapter 12

The hours slid by and soon it was 7:00 am. Emily hit her alarm on her phone before it even had a chance to go off and wake the two blondes. She rolled over and nudged JJ softly until she stirred.

“Morning, beautiful.”

JJ groaned “is it morning already?” she mumbled, snuggling further into the blankets. She made an inarticulate noise of disapproval when Emily pulled the blanket off of her, her grousing turning into a pleased hum as the brunette placed several kisses on the side of her face.

She sat up slowly so as not to wake Henry and yawned with a stretch, smiling lazily at the spots on Emily’s top that got rumpled when Henry clung to her in the night. The smile quickly slipped from her lips as she realized they’d have to go into work.

“Are you ready for today?” JJ murmured gently. “It’s…it’s not going to be easy.”

Emily frowned, “I know it won’t be but it has to be done. First things first I’ll need to report to Hotch and Strauss why they got a notice about my gun being locked up in evidence.”

“You can go talk to PG about everything that happened this weekend and we’ll go from there. It’s going to be a long day, especially, if we have a case. But we can get through it together. I know we can.”

“I’m going to go make some coffee and pack me go-bag. You should hang out a little while longer with Henry, enjoy your morning before the shit storm hits.”

JJ sighed and flopped down onto her back causing Henry to wake up and roll over several times until he was laying on his mother.

“Hi mommy.”

“Good morning little man.” She said gently, brushing his wild bedhead back with a hand. “let’s get you ready for grandma’s and go bother Mom’ly for some breakfast okay?”

“Kay!” he shouted, causing her to wince slightly as he bolted out of bed and went tearing through the house to the guest room where his clothes were.

When Emily and JJ got to work, they shared one last kiss to give each other courage before going into the proverbial lion’s den. They parted in the hallway, Emily heading through the bullpen to Hotch’s office and JJ down the short hallway that lead to Garcia’s lair she rapped on the door gently, only pushing it open when she heard Garcia’s muffled “Enter ye who seeks knowledge and beauty”

“Hey angelfish!” Garcia greeted brightly. She rolled away to one side of her desk and popped open a locked drawer, fishing around for a moment before rolling back to her original position and holding out a sealed folder. “Here’s the new ID’s our brown eyed beauty asked me for and before you tell me to mind my own business and I know I said I wouldn’t ask questions,”

“You’re asking questions?” JJ cut off her friend’s ramble with an amused raise of her eyebrow

“Yes? I mean, this is a big deal JJ, new identities I mean. What’s going on?”

JJ sighed and sank into the chair next to Garcia that the hacker toed out for her. Where was she supposed to start?

“Okay, first, I need you to let me talk and don’t say anything so I can get it all out.”

Garcia mimed zipping her lips and locking them before dramatically throwing away the invisible key.

JJ nodded and took a deep breath. “So, god, where do I begin? So you know Will and I have been having a lot of…problems let’s say.”

Garcia rolled her eyes in a ‘duh’ gesture

“Well our arguments got more and more frequent and more heated until one night Will just…I don’t know Penelope, he just snapped and he-he hit me. Pretty hard.”

Garcia’s eyes went wide and she unzipped her mouth. “I know I have a moratorium on speaking but oh my god JJ! Are you okay? That’s a stupid question. I can make Will disappear off the grid right now, just say the word buttercup, I’m at your disposal.”

JJ laughed in spite of herself and held up a hand. “Whoah slow down.” she squeezed the hand Garcia had placed in hers and took another deep breath. “Now, I’m not proud of this but it’s been going on for two months. He never hurt Henry and he basically conditioned me to just…accept it. Emily found out about it and with her help, I’m getting away from Will.”

“But with new identities? Jayje…”

“No, no, that was just a precaution because Will found out that Emily and I, well, Emily and I are together.”

“Like together together?”

“Yes.” JJ nodded firmly, laughing when Garcia squealed and spun around in her chair.

“Oh my god, JJ! I was wondering when you and Em would finally get your heads out of your a–oh, oh, Will found out about you two. I’m sorry, continue.”

“He wasn’t pleased to say the least. Em had come with me to get some of my and Henry’s things from the house and we’ve been staying with her and he followed us Garcia, he was livid and drunk and we came straight here and that’s when Em asked for the new identities. Just in case. He came over in a rage the other night and he got to me…and I’m pretty sure I had a near death experience.”

“Oh god.”

“Which was why we called out of work that day. We get home the other night and the apartment had been broken into and Em’s gun was missing. We knew it had to be Will. We got the police to dispatch to my mom’s and we got there shortly after but Will had come there to take Henry and long story short, Will was shot in the leg and taken into custody.”

“Oh my god.” Garcia breathed out, her face having paled. She always knew Will wasn’t good enough for JJ but chalked it up to her being fiercely Team Emily and hoping something would come out of that and JJ seemed happy enough. “Oh my god, JJ I’m so sorry I didn’t see it sooner. I wasn’t Will’s biggest fan but I never thought he could do all this.”

“None of us did, Penelope, it’s okay. The people you expect the least can snap the loudest when they snap and Will has sure snapped.” she accepted the hug Garcia leaned in to give her and sighed, feeling lighter than she thought she would now that she’d gotten it out. “Anyway, Emily has to tell Hotch and Strauss what’s going on now because her sidearm is in evidentiary lock up until it can be cleared.”

“I know I’ve been saying this a lot but oh my god. Do you think they’re going to reassign you?”

JJ shook her head. “I don’t know. We have to prepare for that as an eventuality, she’s gone to talk to Hotch right now.”

“And how are you doing? Really doing?”

JJ smiled at her friends concern and noted that Will had made her paranoid about their reactions for nothing. This was her family, they wouldn’t reject her for being in a bad situation. “I’m going to be okay.” she said seriously. She glanced up at the clock on the wall and couldn’t help but wonder how Emily was doing with Hotch

Emily took a deep breath and entered Hotch’s office. “Hotch, we need to talk.”

“Emily, I’ve already gotten the alert about your firearm. Although I don’t have all the details, I read the report. I can say I never thought Will would ever put Henry or JJ in danger but I suspect there is a back story there.”

Emily motioned to the chair nearest Hotch’s desk as if to ask permission to sit down, he nodded and sat behind his desk with a stern look.

Emily explained the entire situation from when JJ told her about the abuse up until Will got arrested the night before. Hotch managed to spend the entire time listening without interruption.

Finally Emily finished explaining and awaited Hotch’s reply.

“You’ll probably be suspended,” Hotch replied. “It comes down to Strauss’ discretion, really. As for you and JJ dating, there are rules against it. However, I think that if you can keep it professional in the work place then it’s not really for me to tell Strauss about your personal life.” He gave her a small wink and grinned. “But on another note, I’m glad you are both okay and I am so happy for the two of you.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Emily grinned. She wasn’t happy with a suspension but it was better than losing her job entirely and if Hotch didn’t tell Strauss about the two women’s relationship, the risk of being transferred had deduced tremendously.

Hotch nodded to dismiss her. Emily waited until her back was turned before letting an immense grin cross her face. She nearly skipped her way down the hallway to go find JJ and hear about how things went over with Garcia.

“Em!” JJ exclaimed, half jogging down the hall to catch up with Emily. “How did it go with Hotch, have you talked to Strauss yet?”

She chewed on her lower lip, nervous as to how it might have gone with their unit chief and section chief. They were in deep and JJ didn’t want to admit that she was scared and anxious

Emily instinctively reached out and squeezed JJ’s hand. “Long story short, Hotch thinks I’ll probably be suspended for the firearm ordeal, which I will accept. It’s better than getting fired.”

“As far as you and I,” Emily continued, “Hotch said it’s none of Strauss’ business. Which I thanked him for and left his office before he could change his mind.”

“I’m on my way to Strauss’ office, Hotch told her to expect me,” Emily sighed. “Hopefully I can just get desk duty or something but if I have to take a suspension I hope it’s not too long. Although it would mean I get to stay home with Henry for a week, so I guess there are worse things.”

“How did things go with Penelope? How loud did she shriek when you told her we’re dating?”

“I’m surprised anyone has eardrums left after I told Pen.” JJ admitted wryly. “What do you mean suspended? Because of your sidearm?” JJ huffed. “That’s not fair but you’re right, it’s better than it could be. Henry would lose his mind if you got to stay home with him for a week, but I hope it doesn’t come down to that to be honest.”

“Agent Prentiss,” Strauss called from her office.

“Well that’s my cue,” Emily sighed. “Wish me luck.”

She restrained herself from leaning in for a kiss, instead she simply squeezed JJ’s arm and forced a smile as she took a deep breath and entered the office, shutting the door behind her.

“Have a seat,” Strauss motioned as she sat down behind her desk

“Ma’am,” Emily nodded as she sat down.

“I can assume Agent Hotchner has already given you a heads up about your suspension.”

Emily’s heart sank, “Yes ma’am.”

“Well, as you know what happened was egregious misconduct on your part. You put the lives of everyone involved in jeopardy when you lost your firearm. Of course this had to be reported to the director and under any other circumstances you would be turning in your badge right now.”

Emily shifted in her chair uncomfortably, she knew better than to interrupt. Yet she wasn’t sure if Strauss had heard the entire story or if it would actually matter.

“However,” Strauss continued, “ Agent Hotchner filled me on the missing details and I decided, considering no one was injured by your firearm, and you immediately reported it missing to the officer at your apartment, I have requested that a formal reprimand be placed on file and you will have to be re-certified with a replacement until your gun is released from evidentiary lockup.”

“You are extremely lucky this did not turn into something far worse,” Strauss said sternly.

“For now you’re skating on thin ice. Another mishap like this and I won’t be able to save you. I’m doing you a favor here, I hope you understand that. Do not take it for granted. One more toe out of line and we’ll be having a very different conversation.”

Emily nodded. “Yes ma’am. I understand. Thank you.”

“Do not thank me, for your sheer dumb luck. Now I believe Garcia has a case in the round table room. Go join the team,” Strauss stood and opened the door.

Emily followed suit and shook Strauss’ hand on the way out the door. Once out of view she pressed her back to the wall and exhaled a breath she wasn’t fully aware she had been holding. She slid down the wall until she was squatting on the floor with her hands behind her head, trying to avoid a panic attack. She had never been so close to losing her job. She was so grateful to skate by even though she knew that if Strauss found out about she and JJ’s relationship that would be the end of her niceties. Emily knew she and JJ had to play it cool at work and in the field to avoid any corrective actions.

“You okay, Princess?” Derek asked as he found her in the hallway on the floor.

“Long weekend, tougher morning,” Emily admitted as she accepted Derek’s hand to pull her to her feet.

“We have ca case,” Derek replied.

“I heard, is it bad?”

“Three women beaten to death in the past month in Louisiana. Looks like we’re going back to the bayou,” Derek groaned.

They entered the round table room and took their seats. JJ was sitting across from Emily and looked at her for any sign of details from her conversation with Strauss. Emily just mouthed, “I’m okay.”

“Let’s get started,” Hotch stated as he walked in the room.


	13. Chapter 13

The jet back to Quantico was silent. JJ was lost in thought. The victims had all been blonde haired blue-eyed women brutalized by John Benger, their unsub. JJ had been a little choked up the whole case and it only got worse when JJ was roughed up during Benger’s take down.

Derek had insisted that she go to the hospital, but JJ couldn’t fathom it; not with her preexisting injuries from Will. That resulted in a full blown fight with Morgan and JJ avoiding him the rest of the case.

Now they were on the jet and JJ had her head resting on the window of the jet, trying to shut out the world and trying not to wince every time they hit a little turbulence and it jostled her injuries.

“Hey”

JJ cracked open one eye and sighed when she saw Derek across from her. He looked contrite though so she gave him the benefit of the doubt.

“Hey” she replied softly

“Look, JJ,” Morgan sighed and ran a hand over his head. “I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life but I wish you would have gotten checked out”

“Leave it alone Derek.”

“See, that’s the thing. Normally, I would, but there’s just something about the way you’ve been avoiding the hospital and avoiding me that’s different than just ‘hey Morgan back off’ you know?”

JJ sighed heavily and ran a shaky hand though her hair, she was going to have to tell him. “Derek, I…” she trailed off, looking for a way to say what she needed to and only seeing encouragement and compassion in her friend’s eyes she let it spill. All of it. She told him everything and to his credit he listened without interrupting, just holding her hand across the short distance between them that was separated by a small table.

JJ wiped furiously at her eyes that had begun to water and shrugged helplessly, it was what it was and there was nothing she could do to change it. She looked across the aisle at Emily who was playing chess with Reid and gave a watery smile as the overhead light for the descent chimed on. She couldn’t change anything but she also wouldn’t change anything because all of this had brought her to safety, had brought her to Emily.

When they got back to the BAU they were all exhausted but it was only noon and they all had paperwork to finish up before the weekend. Emily pulled JJ aside in the stairwell and gave her a hug.

“I was so worried about you,” she stated. “You should have gone to the hospital.”

Emily watched as JJ opened her mouth to protest and she simply pressed one finger to JJ’s lips, “But, I know why you didn’t.”

Emily closed the distance and kissed JJ, “I love you and I’m going to worry about you, naturally. Get used to it. Now I’ve got paperwork to do but I’m sure after what you went through, Hotch will let you go early. Just go home and take a hot bath and take care of yourself. When I get out of here I’ll pick up Henry and some dinner, you just relax.”

“That actually sounds marvelous.” JJ confessed, rubbing at her sore neck. “I could really use some relaxation time.”  
She kissed Emily once more and left to ask Hotch about leaving early and soon she was on her way back home.

Emily worked tirelessly to lessen the stack of files on her desk and soon it was well past five o’clock. She saved the report she had been working on and shut down her laptop.

“Hey, Em,” Derek grinned as he came to her desk and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “Where ya rushing off to? Gotta get home to the Mrs?”

“Hey Derek,” Emily grinned as she fished through her go-bag, “You left something in my bag!”

Derek looked at her confused as she pulled out her hand and flipped him the middle finger. He grabbed his heart dramatically like he was hurt.

“I have to go pick up Henry and figure out what we’re having for dinner first,” Emily sighed and added, “When did I become so domesticated?”

“JJ already has you whipped,” Derek chuckled.

“Who’s whipped?” Garcia asked as she came into the bull pen.

Emily raised her hand, “Guilty!”

“Oh you are so whipped, you’re cream,” Garcia smiled. “Have a good weekend. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

The three of them paused and Derek and Emily looked at Garcia.

“Okay, well I guess that doesn’t leave many rules,” Garcia confessed. “Just be good.”

“Get out of here, you two,” Emily laughed as she grabbed her things and headed toward the elevator.

On the way to the car she called Sandy and told her she’d be stopping by to pick up Henry. Sandy insisted Emily stay for dinner, since she had cooked expecting JJ as well. Emily agreed to join and she decided she’d bring JJ leftovers to give her an extra hour or so of alone time.

Emily made it to Sandy’s and was met at the driveway with Henry running full force at her. She scooped him up and swung him in a circle. “Oh little man, I missed you so much!”

“Mom’ly! I missed you too!” Henry said as he boasted a wide smile. “Look! I lost a tooth!”

“Oh my! You sure did!” Emily grinned. “Did the tooth fairy come?”

“No, I wanted to keep it,” Henry admitted. “Is that okay?”

“Of course love, it’s your tooth!”

Emily carried Henry inside and gave Sandy a warm hug with Henry still clinging to her chest. “How was he this week?”

“Nana’s little angel,” Sandy replied happily. “You must be starving, come sit down and we’ll eat. Where did you say JJ was?”

“She’s already at home, I ordered her some alone time after the week we had, she deserves it.”

“You’re so thoughtful,” Sandy said warmly. “She finally picked a winner.”

Emily blushed at the sentiment. She helped Sandy set the table and cut up some chicken and vegetables for Henry before making a plate for herself.

When Henry was done eating he was excused to the living room and Sandy and Emily caugh up with each other. Emily had always loved JJ’s mother and even more so now, knowing she openly supported her daughter’s new relationship.

Emily checked her watch and realized time had gotten away from her, it was nearly eight o’clock. She packed up Henry’s things and a tupper ware of food for JJ, hugged Sandy good night and made her way home.

“Baby, are you excited to see Momma?” Emily asked looking at Henry in the rear view mirror.

“Yeah!” he exclaimed. “And Sergio!”

“I’m sure Sergio missed you too,” Emily beamed.

On the drive home she and Henry sang along to his favorite songs on a mix CD she had made for car rides together. Henry was simply beside himself with glee.

They parked in the garage of the apartments and Emily slung her go-bag and Henry’s bag over her shoulder, let him out of his car seat and they made their way upstairs.

When they reached Emily’s apartment she noticed immediately that the door was open. Her heart sank as her breath caught in her chest. It was too familiar.

“Henry, I need you to stay here, in the hallway. Be very quiet and do not move until I come and get you. Do you understand?” Emily asked the young boy.

Henry nodded sensing the seriousness in Emily’s tone, “I’ll sit right here, no moving.”

Emily drew her gun and slowly opened the front door, looking in on a dark apartment.


	14. Chapter 14

JJ sighed appreciatively when she finally made it home, dropping her go-bag by the door and heading upstairs to run herself a bath. She sank into the tub and reveled in the feeling of steeping in the hot water until well after five when she reluctantly pulled herself out and let out the water where it swirled down with a quiet burble.

She threw on her pajamas and her stomach growling led her downstairs to the kitchen to fix something to eat, she’d have to save leftovers for Emily and Henry when they got home.

JJ was in the middle of deliberating over the contents of the kitchen cabinets when there was a rough knock on the door. She happily abandoned her task and went to open the door, assuming Emily had picked something up and needed help getting inside

Except when she opened the door it was not Emily that greeted her, but Will. JJ gasped and went to slam the door right away, but Will was too fast and he stopped the door from closing on him.

“What do you want, Will?” JJ asked sourly, holding the door closed enough that it was ajar.

“I want you, Jen.” he said quietly, his tone apologetic and begging. “I want you to come home.”

JJ shook her head. “I am home.” she tried to push the door closed again and gasped when Will knocked it open forcefully.

“Then I want my son, you unfaithful whore!” he shouted.

“Henry’s not here” JJ replied through gritted teeth, standing her ground. “And even if he were there’s no way you’d be able to get to him”

“Bullshit!” Will yelled, kicking the door closed. “Go get my boy and bring him out here!”

“He’s not here, Will!” JJ shouted back. She backed up until her back hit the edge of the kitchen island when she finally noticed the gun in his hand. “Get out of here. Get out of here before Emily comes home.”

“Or what? Your filthy dyke gonna save you chere?” Will laughed and waved the hand holding the gun in her face. “Go get my boy before I have to use this.”

“I’m telling you he’s not here!”

“Henry! Henry come on out to daddy now!” Will stalked further into the house and JJ tried to back up more but she was already pressed against the counter. “Get. My. Boy. You whore.”

“Fuck you!”

Will drew back the hand holding the gun and slapped JJ with it quickly, causing her head to snap to one side, blood immediately rushing out of her split lip. “I’m not gonna ask again. If your sorry ass wants to stay with that dyke then fine, but I won’t have my son raised up by the two of you.”

JJ touched the corner of her lip and was surprised at the anger she felt bubbling within her instead of fear. “You’ve hit me for the last time, William.” JJ vowed before launching herself at him.

He hadn’t been expecting her so she knocked him off guard and the gun clattered to the floor and skid several feet away. He righted himself quickly and swung on her, the corner of his fist catching the edge of her jaw and causing her head to snap back. JJ sputtered and made one hand into a palm with her fingers clawed and shot it forward, landing in the center of his nose and she almost smiled when she heard the satisfying snap of cartilage and his head went back, his eyes watering as he let out a string of obscenities over his broken nose.

Will kicked out with one leg and caught JJ in the pelvis and she doubled over, falling to the ground with Will collapsing on top of her, getting ready to beat her about the face. She scrambled onto her stomach and tried to crawl away but Will grabbed her hair and yanked hard causing her to cry out.

He drug her by the hair into the living room and kicked her hard int he rib cage, breaking what little remodeling had occurred since her last beating. She instinctively gathered into the fetal position to protect her midsection, so he kicked her in the face.

JJ reached up and caught him by the ankle, pulling his leg out from under him. Will fell on his back onto the coffee table. JJ picked up the nearest heavy object she could find, which happened to be the lamp on the side table, and smashed it over his head.

She waited, lamp raised above her head for another blow, but he didn’t get up. She ran to the kitchen to get to her phone when she felt the force of Will’s arm slam her head against the wall from behind.

He pinned her to the wall and leaned into her ear, “You wanna fight me, bitch? You think you can handle me?”

JJ heard him unzip the fly of his pants as she cried out, “Will, no, please, no!”

He pinned her hard against the wall and pulled down her sweat pants. “Bet you don’t even remember what it’s like to fuck a real man,” he said as he began to work himself to erection. He reached under JJ and rubbed her until she was wet.

“See, your mouth says no, but your body says yes, chere.”

Just as she felt his erection against her back side her phone rang, causing just enough of a distraction for Will to turn and JJ to wiggle free enough to kick backwards, right into his groin.

Will fell to the floor, screaming in agony. JJ reached for her phone, but he kicked her in the back of the knee, making her crumple to the floor. She scrambled to all fours and tried to crawl away.

It was then that she saw the gun just within reach. JJ grabbed for it several times before her hand closed around the butt of the gun and she rolled over onto her back but Will was there, on top of her, and immediately began to choke her. He noticed the gun in her hand and went for it and the two of them struggled with it back and forth until a loud shot rang out, JJ’s eyes going wide before everything fell silent again.


	15. Chapter 15

Emily pressed her back to the wall, sweeping her gun from side to side, looking for any signs of movement. She cleared the hallway and made her way toward the kitchen. She flipped on the light and saw the obvious signs of a struggle.

That’s when she saw the trail of blood that was staining the wood floor. She kept her gun raised as she rounded the corner and found JJ curled in a ball on the floor, covered in blood, still gripping the gun.

“Jennifer!” Emily lowered her gun and rushed to JJ’s side. “Are you hurt?”

Emily carefully took the gun out of JJ’s hand and tucked it in the back of her waistband. JJ was visibly shaking and opened her mouth but no words came out. She pointed across the kitchen.

Emily looked up and saw where the trail of blood ended. There on her kitchen floor, resting in a pool of blood was Will LaMontagne Jr.

Emily wrapped her arms around JJ and pulled her phone out of her pocket and called it in.

“Jay, Henry is in the hallway. I’m going to take him to Christine’s apartment. He can’t see this. Stay here.”

Again, JJ was silent and simply nodded.

Emily went back into the hallway where Henry was sitting on the floor clutching Frank tightly. “Mom’ly?”

“Buddy, I need you to do me a huge favor right now. I need you to go hang out with Christine for a while.”

“Christine?” Henry asked.

“You remember my neighbor Christine? She watches Sergio when I’m gone and I’m sure he misses you. So I want you to go to Christine’s and play with Sergio while your Momma and I take care of important adult things. Can you do that for me?”

Henry nodded. “Okay, Mom’ly.”

He reached up and took Emily’s hand as she walked across the hall and knocked on her neighbor’s door. Christine answered almost immediately, “Emily? Emily, I thought I heard a gun shot?”

“Chris, I can’t talk right now. I need you to watch Henry for a while. The police are on their way. Keep your door locked and stay out of the hallway until I come back. Can you please do that?”

Christine was well aware of what had been going on with Emily, JJ and Will. Emily had kept her posted for her own safety. Christine agreed and took Henry inside, “Henry, I think Sergio is in the bedroom!”

“Sergio!” Henry squealed as he ran for the bedroom.

Once Henry was safe, Emily made her way back into her apartment. The sirens were nearby at that point. She found JJ still shaking in a ball on the floor.

“JJ? JJ, baby? Can you hear me?”

JJ nodded minutely and took a shaky breath. “It all happened so fast, Em” she said quietly. “I almost couldn’t stop him…” she trailed off and tugged her sweatpants up, they were already as high on her waist as they would go but it didn’t seem like enough. “But I did, didn’t I?” she turned her watery eyes onto Emily and sniffed, tasting blood in the back of her throat. “He’s really dead, isn’t he?”

Emily tightened her grip around JJ and nodded as she kissed JJ’s forehead. “He’s dead. It’s over now.”

Moments later she heard footsteps coming through the front door. She stood to go meet the officers but JJ clung to her like a child so Emily simply called out, “In here officers”

“Emily?”

“Hotch?” she called back.

Hotch rounded the corner and found himself in front of Emily and JJ on the floor and the body not more than ten feet away. He froze. Emily watched him try to compose himself, but she had already seen the fear in his eyes. It looked too much like Haley’s death. It’s not something anyone ever fully recovers from.

“Hotch, what are you doing here?”

“After JJ had left early and with everything that happened on the case, I wanted to make sure you two were okay…” he trailed off realizing why he was there did not seem nearly as important as the fact there was a dead body on the kitchen floor and JJ was covered in blood.

“What the fuck happened here?” he finally asked as he leaned against the wall for support. Emily could tell the scene was hitting a nerve for him and she felt severely responsible for Hotch having to relive his worst nightmare, even if him being there was pure coincidence.

Emily finally realized she had no idea what had happened either. Last they knew, Will was in jail. Now he was laying dead on her floor. Will was dead. It hadn’t sunk in yet. She looked to JJ for answers.

“He came in here screaming” JJ started in a shaky voice. “I guess he made bail and came straight over here. He wanted me or Henry. When he realized he wasn’t going to get me, he started yelling for Henry. He…He tried to rape me.” she shifted uncomfortably at Emily’s worried look.

“He didn’t though” she said quickly. “He didn’t. I…I stopped him.” she tilted her head towards the body. “I stopped him.”

Hotch looked at the body and back to JJ, “Was it your gun? Because if it was this will be an even bigger mess than it already is.”

JJ shook her head. It seemed like all she could do. Emily knew she was in shock and was worried about the aftermath when the initial adrenaline wore off. What JJ would have to face when she came out of this moment and realized she had shot and killed the father of her child.

The local PD arrived on scene and took JJ into the hallway to get an official statement and the crime scene techs came in to process the scene.

Emily pulled Hotch aside, “This was clearly self defense. There’s no way she’d serve jail time for this, right?”

Hotch shrugged, “I mean, it seems pretty cut and dry. Especially with the break in and his previous attempt on her life. I don’t think it should be a problem. If for whatever reason this ends up in court I know some of the best attorneys in DC. Don’t worry about that now. What you need to do is take care of JJ and Henry. Take this weekend and next week. We’ll survive without you but she won’t.” Hotch got quiet for a minute before adding, “You helped me through Haley, more than you know. Now you need to be there for JJ.”

“I will be,” Emily promised.

It took two hours for police to clear the scene. The lead detective ruled it as self-defense and the district attorney decided, under the circumstances, there would be no charges pressed.

The medical examiner picked up the body and Emily watched them zip up the black bag around Will before loading him into the back of the van.

“It’s over,” she muttered to herself.

She made her way back inside where JJ had been sitting on the couch with Hotch. Emily sat down next to her, noting she had finally stopped shaking.

“Jennifer, we need to pack up some things and go stay at somewhere else tonight. We can’t stay here, not with Henry, not with…” Emily looked back to the kitchen where the blood had begun to stain the wood floors. She’d have to replace the entire kitchen before they moved.

It seemed only logical that they would move to a new place after such a trauma. They could stay at JJ’s for a while but it wouldn’t be healthy to be there, around Will’s things. Where he slept, where he lived. It just wasn’t right.

“You three could stay with Jack and I this weekend, if you need,” Hotch offered.

“Thanks Hotch, I think we’ll just end up renting a hotel room for now. That way we can have some privacy and just grieve, as a family.”

She interlaced her fingers with JJ’s and leaned in to kiss the blonde. “We’re going to get through this.”

JJ nodded dumbly before shaking her head and nodding with a little more clarity. "We're going to get through this" she echoed with more confidence than she felt. She stood up and started to make her way towards the stairs "I'm going to go pack some things" she said shakily before a wave of sharp intense pain jabbed her in the abdomen causing her to cry out and she dropped to her knees as her vision went white, clutching her stomach

"Jennifer!" Emily rushed to meet JJ on the stairs just as JJ collapsed in her arms.

Emily wrapped her arms around the blonde, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know" JJ managed through gritted teeth "oh god it hurts"

She felt a flush of warmth between her legs and her first thought was that the pain was so severe she wet herself but when she looked between her thighs, her sweatpants were covered in huge patches of blood. She looked helplessly at Emily, feeling it in her gut what it was but she didn't want it to be true. It couldn't be. She hadn't even known with everything going on. She let out a cry as another wave of pain crashed into her and managed to mutter "why is there so much blood?"

Emily watched as the blood saturated the fabric. JJ clenched her arm, as Emily turned frantically to look at Hotch.

"Call an abundance!" Hotch pulled out his phone and dialed 911.

"Okay, baby. Just stay with me," Emily said as she tried to remain calm. She hadn't even thought of the damages Will had caused in all of the chaos. She looked as the color faded from JJ's cheeks.

"Help is on the way," Hotch said as he joined the women on the stairs. "JJ, try and focus your breathing."

Emily ran her fingers through JJ's hair and kissed her on the forehead. "Just breathe."

JJ tried to focus on her breathing, contractions of pain throwing a hiccup into her efforts and she only vaguely felt the tears sliding down her cheeks

By the time the ambulance got there, the sharp wrenching stabs of pain had died down to a manageable dull ache and she sat with Emily on her gurney in the Hospital room waiting for the doctor to come back

Neither of them said anything, just held onto each other's hands as JJ stared mindlessly at the white tiles of the floor she jumped slightly when the doctor seemed to materialize out of nowhere, wearing a sympathetic expression

"It's what I thought initially" he said, marking something down on the clipboard in his hands "Jennifer, you've had a miscarriage. I'm so sorry"

JJ felt herself pale and she squeezed Emily's hands she had vaguely heard the EMTs mention a miscarriage but she'd tried to tell them that was impossible "I'm...im not pregnant" she stuttered out, trying to get the doctor to understand

Misinterpreting her statement, the doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid not. You were about 11 weeks along."

"11 weeks, that's impossible"

The doctor frowned "When was your last period?"

She'd just had it...oh god. With everything going on with Will she hadn't been keeping track and had too much on her mind to notice but thinking about it now she realized that it had been over two months. She felt sick. She didn't even think she had it in her to cry anymore. She just felt numb and when she spoke her voice sounded hollow even to her own ears "Emily, I want to go home"

Emily nodded, lost for words. "Doctor, can she go home tonight?"

"I'm afraid not," the doctor frowned. "Jennifer, considering everything that's happened you're going to need to stay for observation. You should be able to leave tomorrow."

Emily looked at JJ who simply looked exhausted. She gently rubbed her thumb over the back of JJ's hand. "It's okay, just one night."

After the doctor left, Emily squeezed in next to JJ on the bed. She hummed softly as she wrapped her arms around JJ.

What was there to say? Even in death, Will had taken everything from JJ. Emily knew how much JJ wanted another child but not like this. Not with him.

"I'm so sorry," Emily whispered.

JJ finally felt her eyes well up and she sniffed back a sob. How could he have taken so much from her so quickly? She lost her sense of safety, her sense of self, and her dignity. It wasn't fair that he took her unborn child from her too. A child she hadn't even known she'd been carrying

"I'm sorry Em" JJ sobbed, burying her face against Emily's shoulder. "I'm so sorry. Everything got so fucked up so fast. I'm sorry"

Emily choked back her own tears and tried to quiet JJ. "None of this is your fault. You have to know that. This isn't on your shoulders. You've been so brave. I am so proud of you for surviving this. You're the strongest person I know."

Emily kissed JJ and wiped her tears. "I'm not leaving your side, you hear me? Hotch has Jack tonight. I'm not going anywhere."

"Maybe you should try and sleep," Emily suggested. "The doctor said the pain meds should kick in soon. Just rest now."

JJ took a shuddering breath and nodded dutifully. She felt cold in a way that had nothing to do with temperature but nevertheless she pulled herself closer to Emily, wanting to feel her warmth. As if on cue to the brunettes earlier statement, a wave of drowsiness pulled at her conscious mind and still sniffling, JJ fell into a dreamless sleep

Emily dozed on and off through the night. She did her best to get comfortable on the couch in the hospital room but it was too short to stretch out on and the pillows were too soft and the room was too cold. She knew she was being too critical but she was so overwhelmed with the events of the past 24 hours that she simply wanted a few hours of sleep.

She was grateful that JJ mostly slept through the night.

Emily still hadn't decided where they were going to stay. Hotch agreed to keep Henry through the weekend, after Jack had insisted. Emily held solace that Henry had been spared some of the pain.

They still hadn't had the chance to sit him down and explain to him what happened to Will. That was a conversation to have once JJ was in better health.

For now, Emily wanted him to keep his childlike wonder of the world. She saw no need to strip away his innocence sooner than needed. Someday, he may think them. Someday, he may hate them. For now, he was innocent and all he cared about was watching cartoons and playing dinosaurs with Jack.

For now, that was perfectly acceptable. One of them deserved to be happy in midst of tragedy.

Emily was lost in thought when she heard JJ stirring.

JJ came back to consciousness quickly but still in a medicated haze. She didn't feel Emily in the bed next to her and she felt panic rise within her. Had that been the last straw? Had Emily left her? She struggled to shake off the grogginess and sit up "Emily?!"

Emily jumped and closed the distance to the side of the bed. "It's okay, Jayje. I'm here. I'm here."

JJ felt ridiculous that she started sobbing with relief but she couldn't seem to stop "I thought you left me" she said her voice small

Emily's heart sank. Even after they had been through, after everything they had come through, JJ still worried Emily would leave.

"Love, I'm not going to leave. I'm never going to leave you. I love you, with all my heart." Emily leaned in and kissed JJ gently.

"I love you," she repeated.

JJ sniffed and nodded. "I'm sorry. I love you too it's just that...I don't know. It's just that I'm such a mess." She looked at Emily with watery eyes and wiped the back of her hand over them. "Can we go? I just want to see Henry"

Emily kissed JJ again, "I'll go find a nurse"

Two hours later JJ was being discharged. She had nearly gotten in a yelling match with the nurse when they insisted it was hospital policy to wheel her out to the car in a wheelchair.

Emily brought the car around and helped JJ into the passenger side.

She silently put her hand on JJ's thigh and patted it gently. "Let's go see our little man."

They drove to Hotch's in silence. Neither of them knowing exactly what to say.

"I booked a room at a hotel. I called a realtor and my apartment will be on the market by the end of the week. She said she can list your house too...if you want"

Truth was they hadn't really talked about it, when would they have? Emily had just assumed they would start over someplace new.

"Cynthia will email me some listings that we can look at when you feel up to it. I just want to move on from all of this."

"I do too. This has been a horror show the last several weeks and I just want to move on with you and Henry" she wiped at her eyes and placed a hand over her stomach. It wasn't fair. She felt like everything good that had happened was tainted by Will and what he'd done. How someone she thought she knew could be driven to that kind of madness was beyond her but didn't they see that all the time? Seemingly normal people who snapped under a stressor and did a 180 personality-wise?

It was weird to think that from here on out she'd be able to identify more closely with the victims they saw day in and day out. She knew Emily thought she was strong but she didn't feel like it. She didn't feel like it at all. She just wanted to hold her son and know that things were going to be okay. "Oh god, Em. What are we going to tell Henry?"

Emily swallowed hard as they pulled up to Hotch's building. She had been dreading talking to Henry. He was at the age where he would probably ask questions and she knew they would need to tread lightly. She didn't want to lie to him but at the same time he didn't need to know all of the details. Maybe some day.

"We tell him the truth. Will attacked you and you defended yourself."

"What if he hates me?" She asked, not moving to get out of the car even though Emily had turned the engine off. "I couldn't deal with that on top of everything else Em"

Emily sighed, "We'll deal with that as it comes. We don't know how he'll react until we talk to him. Let's just get him to the hotel. We can talk to him there, then I'll go pack our bags at the apartment and come back."

JJ nodded and followed Emily to Hotch's apartment. She nearly started sobbing again when Henry ran to her and wrapped his arms around her legs but she managed to keep herself in check and soon they were settling down in the hotel room

"Why aren't we going home?" Henry asked as he bounced on his feet on the couch

JJ sighed and looked over at Emily who gave her a nod of encouragement and moved to sit on the couch. JJ followed suit and sat down, stilling Henry's bouncing and gathering him in her lap

"We can't go back there right now"

"Why? Did daddy find us?"

"Yes...but there's something very important I have to tell you Henry"

He nodded sagely and waited for her to continue

"Remember I told you your father hurt me very much?"

"Daddy's a bad man"

JJ nodded "well he came by Mom'ly's and hurt me again. Very very badly and he wanted to hurt me worse. He wanted to kill me so I had to defend myself, do you understand Henry?"

Henry's eyes grew wide and his bottom lip quivered as he clung to JJ "what did you do mommy?"

JJ took a deep breath and smoothed Henry's hair back. "I had to shoot him, Henry. Your dad...he's dead."

Henry's eyes grew impossibly wider and then he was heaving wracking sobs, wailing as his little face turned red and he threw himself into Emily's arms

Emily hugged him tightly, "Henry, your Mommy was very brave. Your Daddy hurt her and she had to react. Do you understand that?"

Henry cried louder, "I want my Daddy!"

He fought Emily's embrace. But she held him close and lowered her voice, "You can't see him, baby. He's gone now. You Mommy and I are going to take care of you. I promise I will protect you and your Mommy from here on out."

She kissed his cheeks and wiped his tears, "I love you Henry. You Mommy loves you. We're going to love you forever."

Henry sniffed and seemed like he would calm down but then he started wailing again, crying so hard that he was choking

JJ rubbed circles on his back and made soothing sounds that couldn't be heard. "What is it Henry?" He was crying like everything had just been taken away from him

It took several minutes and some dry heaving later but Henry coughed and rubbed at his eyes. "I want my daddy but daddy is a bad man. He tried to _kill_ you. Does that make me bad too? I don't wanna be bad too"

"No baby, that doesn't make you bad," Emily cooed as she rubbed his back. "It's okay to want your Daddy. He loved you very much."

Emily sighed, everything was so complicated. She wanted to protect Henry from the horrors of the world but there he was, right in the middle of the storm.

Emily wrapped him up in the middle of she and JJ. "You're not bad, Henry. You're such a brave boy. Just like your Momma."

"I love you very much Henry" JJ whispered, still worried about what he thought

Henry snuffled and nodded. "I love you too mommy" he threw himself into her lap and hugged her, tears still streaming down his face. "I miss daddy but I'm glad he can't hurt you anymore and I'm glad you didn't die"

JJ wrapped her arms around her son and fought back her own tears, kissing the top of his head. "Let's get you ready for bed okay?"

Once Henry was tucked in, Emily kissed JJ and made her way back to her apartment.

She entered and let the darkness engulf her. She didn't want to turn on the lights. She didn't want to see the blood trail. She didn't want to see the destruction.

She made her way upstairs and packed two suitcases and grabbed both of their go-bags. She packed Henry's clothes and navigated through the dark back to the front door.

The light from the hallway lit the foyer and she sighed. She had always loved that apartment but now she'd never be able to sleep there again.

It was time for a fresh start. She drove back to the hotel and pushed her way through the door with her arms full.

She flipped on the light and found JJ passed out with Henry wrapped in her arms. Emily sat on the bed next to them and smiled. This was her family now and there was nothing in the world she wouldn't do for them.


	16. Epilogue

"Emily?" JJ called from behind two boxes. "Could you help me with these?"

"The doctor told you not to do any heavy lifting," Emily reminded as she took the boxes and walked them into the living room.

JJ rolled her eyes, "We'll maybe if you take a break from playing soccer with Henry and help me unload the truck we would have already be finished."

Emily smiled, "Mom tone doesn't work on me, or didn't you know?"

"I'll mom tone you all I want," JJ replied as she kissed her wife. "I have to boss someone around for the next six months." She reminded as she rubbed her hand over her swollen stomach.

"Yes, dear," Emily grinned. "Henry, Lottie! Come help me unload the truck so your Mom doesn't sass me anymore"

"Okay, Mom'ly!" Henry yelled as he and his little sister came running down the stairs," he stopped briefly in front of JJ on his way towards the front yard. "Momma?"

"Yes baby," JJ replied as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Can Lottie and I help set up the baby's room?" Henry asked wide eyed.

"Of course," JJ beamed. "We'll do it as a family."

"Yay!" Lottie smiled, with her two front teeth missing.

Emily handed boxes to Henry and let Lottie carry light weight bags of bedding and stuffed toys.

JJ stood in the foyer of their new home and directed traffic to make sure each box ended up in the proper place.

A couple of hours later they were officially moved in. Emily helped get the kids to bed and collapsed on the bed in exhaustion.

JJ rolled over and snuggled into Emily's chest. "I love you, did you know that?"

Emily kissed the top of her wife's head. "I love you too, Mrs Prentiss."

She looked around their new room. "I can't believe we're here."

JJ smiled, "We finally made it. New home, new addition, many more years of laughter and happiness ahead."

Emily leaned in and kissed JJ fervently, "We finally made it to our happily ever after."

She flipped off the light and snuggled into the bed.

JJ yawned as she closed her eyes and repeated softly, "Our happily ever after."

[END]


End file.
